China records new daily high of Covid cases and night of rare protests
Hindustan TimesBeijing: China on Saturday reported a third consecutive daily record for new Covid-19 cases amid numerous social media reports of citizen protests against restrictions including a large scale demonstration in the northwestern city of Urumqi and sporadic ones in Beijing, indicating a seething resentment among people over lockdowns and unexplained curbs upending lives and shrinking incomes. China on Saturday reported 35,183 new Covid-19 infections for Friday including a handful of “imported” cases, the national health commission said in its daily bulletin, of which 3,474 were symptomatic while the remaining were asymptomatic. Citizen protests Many reports of protest by citizens against China’s “zero-Covid” rules were shared over social media especially on Twitter through the intervening night between Friday and Saturday, giving a rare glimpse of the simmering anger among many residents over Covid control policies. If it’s not me, then next time it will be me.” Responding to the situation, the Xinjiang government announced on Saturday, according to state-run tabloid, Global Times, that the city has “…basically cleared Covid-19 cases at community level, and will restore order to the lives of residents in low-risk areas in a phased manner.” An investigation team had been set to probe the cause of the fire and those found guilty of causing the accident will be punished, the Global Times reported.