Hong Kong, Europe Brief News – China has recorded its highest number of daily Covid cases since the pandemic began.
Several major cities including the capital Beijing and southern trade hub Guangzhou are experiencing outbreaks.
Wednesday saw 31,527 cases recorded compared with an April peak of 28,000.
The numbers are still tiny for a country of 1.4 billion people and officially just over 5,200 have died since the pandemic began.
That equates to three Covid deaths in every million in China, compared with 3,000 per million in the US and 2,400 per million in the UK, although direct comparisons between countries are difficult.
While China’s zero-Covid policy has clearly saved lives, it has also dealt a punishing blow to the economy and ordinary people’s lives.
The country slightly relaxed some of those restrictions a few weeks ago.
Over the past few weeks, violent protests were reported in southern China’s industrial metropolis Guangzhou over the strict coronavirus curbs.
Dramatic footage shows some tearing down Covid control barriers. Riot teams have now been deployed in the area.
It follows Guangzhou’s worst Covid outbreak since the pandemic began.
Amid bad economic figures, China’s zero Covid policy is under enormous strain.
In the north of the country, the coronavirus rumour mill is also building pressure.
