Xinjiang reported the fourth-highest number of new cases nationwide on Monday, according to data collected by Bloomberg, despite some cities in the region in northwest China being blocked for 90 days. Inner Mongolia, which was sealed off in early October, saw cases jump to nearly 1,800 from 1,033 the day before, while infections in Henan province more than doubled in one day to 747.
Guangdong Province has the largest outbreak right now, the main driver of China’s national workload rose to 7,323 new infections, the highest tally since April 30. Most of the cases are in the southern metropolis of Guangzhou, which has reported 2,377 infections and has taken a focused approach to contain the viruses so far.
While entertainment venues and restaurants are closed in most of the city, only one district, Haizhu, has been closed. This is where most cases are found and the stay-at-home order was extended on Monday evening.
Restrictions continue to be imposed to varying degrees in other Chinese cities, with Shanghai consistently blocking condominiums and neighborhoods in which cases and close contacts are found since the citywide blockade ended earlier this year.
The rising outbreaks show the tension China’s Covid Zero strategy is facing, with even severe lockdowns and constant mass testing failing to quickly keep them under control. Health officials over the weekend reaffirmed the country’s unwavering commitment to politics, even as it hammers the economy, dashing hopes that authorities will soon move towards loosening some of their stricter rules.
China’s absolutist approach to Covid nearly three years after the start of the pandemic is leading to growing tensions on the ground.
A clash between residents and virus prevention personnel, known locally as Dabaior “Big White” for their full-body PPE – seven arrests were made in Shandong province on Monday, police in Linyi city on Weibo said.
A video posted online purporting to be from the brawl showed groups of Dabai surrounding a man on the street, then dragging him by his clothes before punching and kicking him in the street, along with what appear to be police officers. Spectators scream and scream. Bloomberg News was unable to verify the footage, which was posted on Weibo and also on Twitter.
China quarantines all Covid cases and their close contacts in makeshift hospitals, a policy that has led to friction in the past as people resist being taken away.
The incidence of push-backs and protests is increasing in China as Covid Zero drags on. Ahead of the all-important Communist Party congress in Beijing last month, a protester hung banners on a bridge criticizing the blockade in a rare and high-profile defiant exhibition in the capital. Videos of the protests during the Shanghai blockade earlier this year were censored online.
