Its only just begun – Mick Raven

Protesters are rallying against China’s COVID-19 lockdowns in cities across the country.

https://www.abc.net.au

28 Nov 2022

Demonstrations against China’s COVID-control measures have been staged around the country.

Protesters in China are calling for an end to pandemic restrictions and lockdowns, with citizens rallying against the nation’s COVID-zero policy.

The show of civil disobedience among Chinese citizens, which appears to be gaining momentum, is being labelled as “extraordinary”.

What prompted the protests?

The most recent trigger was the death of 10 people in an apartment building fire in Urumqi, in the north-west region of Xinjiang, on Thursday night. 

Video circulating on social media showed firefighters trying to extinguish the blaze from a distance. 

It was unclear why they were so far away, but some said fire engines were blocked by pandemic-control barriers or by cars stranded after their owners were put in quarantine.

Some social media users suggested residents could not escape the building because it was partially locked down — something city officials denied.

But anger over China’s COVID-19 policies has been building throughout the pandemic. 

What are the COVID rules in China?

Nearly three years since the pandemic began, China is still trying to stop transmission of the disease with a COVID-zero strategy. 

The specific rules in place depend on the location, but they include travel restrictions and rolling lockdowns, with people in home quarantine in some areas saying they lack food and medicine. 

In Urumqi, for example, some people have been locked in their homes for four months.

China also still uses COVID-19 tracking apps, which fell out of use in Australia as the country moved to the “living with the virus” stage of the pandemic.   

The apps track people’s movements and show if they’ve been to a COVID hotspot or have tested positive, displaying their status as either green, yellow or red.

People need to display a green status to get into nearly every public place in urban China, including restaurants, public transport, supermarkets and parks. 

And they need to take PCR tests regularly to maintain their green status — for some people that is every one or two days. 

More links to this Article – Mick Raven

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