China Covid protests: Police officers confront a man as they block Wulumuqi street in Shanghai
Hundreds gathered in China's capital Beijing and other cities to protest against the stringent Covid curbs, which include snap lockdowns, lengthy quarantines, and mass testing campaigns.
Here are 5 points on this big story:
- China has stuck with it's zero-Covid policy even as much of the world has lifted most restrictions. The lockdowns and lengthy quarantines in China have resulted in public frustration.
- China reported 39,506 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, a record high but small compared to caseloads in the West at the height of the pandemic.
- Several high-profile cases in which emergency services have been allegedly slowed down by Covid lockdowns, leading to deaths, have catalysed public opposition.
- A deadly fire on Thursday in Urumqi, the capital of northwest China's Xinjiang region, has become a fresh catalyst for public anger, with many blaming lengthy Covid lockdowns for hampering rescue efforts. Ten people were killed in the fire.
- Another factor that has added fuel to the protests is the country's struggling economy. China's economy suffered a broad slowdown in October as factory output grew more slowly than expected and retail sales fell for the first time in five months.
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