The deadly fire in Urumqi – a city on the western Xinjiang region that has been under Covid restrictions since August – was the trigger for the weekend’s protests. Although state media has insisted people in the block of flats where the fire broke out were able to leave their apartments, many people believe Covid measures may have contributed to the deaths.
But anger at the consequences of zero-Covid had already been building for many months, following other deaths and incidences of suffering that people say could have been avoided:
- Earlier this month, a family in Zhengzhou said their baby died because her ambulance was delayed by Covid restrictions
- In September, Chengdu residents were barred from fleeing their homes during a 6.6 magnitude earthquake which killed 65 people
- Also that month in Guizhou, a bus ferrying residents to a mandatory quarantine centre crashed, killing 27 passengers
- In October, a 14-year-old girl in Henan forced into quarantine died after she developed a fever and couldn’t get treatment in the centre, her father said
- During Shanghai’s lockdown in April, people complained about the lack of food and difficult conditions faced by elderly people who were forcibly taken to quarantine centres
Chinese leader Xi Jinping has insisted zero-Covid is about saving lives and China has officially recorded just over 5,200 deaths from the virus – far fewer than in other countries.
Source: BBC.com