Photos show daily life in China under its 'zero-COVID' policies that citizens are protesting across the country

Lloyd Lee,Cheryl TehNov 30, 2022, 06:52 IST

Residents look over the barriers surrounding the Haizhu District in Guangzhou in southern China’s Guangdong province on November 11, 2022.Uncredited/AP

Protests recently erupted in China over the country's stringent "zero-COVID" policy.
Rules include strict lockdowns that close businesses or severely limit the movement of residents.

Protests have erupted across China in the past week over the country's strict so-called "zero-COVID" policy, amounting to a rare, widespread, public display of discontent with the government.

Residents have already expressed a growing weariness over the measures since Chinese President Xi Jinping implemented them nearly three years ago at the outset of the pandemic.

The regulations include stringent lockdowns in neighborhoods or cities even when only a small number of COVID cases are found, shutdowns of businesses, and sometimes isolation in government quarantine facilities.

On Friday, frustrations over the policy boiled over after an apartment fire in the city of Urumqi, the capital of northwestern Xinjiang, killed 10 people. Local residents blamed the delayed response from first responders on China's "zero-COVID" measures.

The city government of Beijing announced on Monday that it would ease some of its rules by removing gates around apartment complexes that are under lockdown, according to PBS News Hour. But the Chinese government appeared to double down on the rest of its "zero-COVID" strategy.

Here's a glimpse of daily life in China under its "zero-COVID" policy.

Roads are nearly empty in Zhengzhou in China's Henan province. The capital is under a five-day lockdown.

Zhengzhou, China, November 26, 2022.Shang Ji/Feature China/Future Publishing via Getty Images

Roadblocks are set up for a security checkpoint in the Haizhu district in Guangzhou in China's Guangdong province. More than 5 million people in Guangzhou and Chongqing were under lockdown on November 11, 2022.

Uncredited/AP

Roadblocks are set up for a security checkpoint in the Haizhu district in Guangzhou in China's Guangdong province. More than 5 million people in Guangzhou and Chongqing were under lockdown on November 11, 2022.

A worker in personal protective equipment stands by the entrance of a residential area in Beijing that's under lockdown.

Noel Celis/AFP via Getty Images

The movement of residents can be severely restricted under China's policy. In Beijing, a man retrieves an item through the fences around a community under lockdown.

Ng Han Guan/AP

Residents pick up their delivery orders outside a community in Beijing.

Ng Han Guan/AP

People who test positive and their close contacts are placed in quarantine at home or in a government facility which can include a hotel. In Anyang, Henan province, a seal is placed on the door of a residential community where people are in quarantine.

CFOTO/Future Publishing via Getty Images

People who test positive and their close contacts are placed in quarantine at home or in a government facility which can include a hotel. In Anyang, Henan province, a seal is placed on the door of a residential community where people are in quarantine.

COVID-19 testing is also a routine practice in communities. In a Beijing residential compound, a woman receives a test.

Andy Wong/AP

Residents still partake in some recreational activities. Somewhere in the Beijing central business district, a man brings out his dog to play.

Ng Han Guan/AP

Businesses and schools are closed in areas under lockdown. But this restaurant in Beijing still manages to serve take-out.

Ng Han Guan/AP

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Photos show daily life in China under its 'zero-COVID' policies that citizens are protesting across the country

Roads are nearly empty in Zhengzhou in China's Henan province. The capital is under a five-day lockdown.

Roadblocks are set up for a security checkpoint in the Haizhu district in Guangzhou in China's Guangdong province. More than 5 million people in Guangzhou and Chongqing were under lockdown on November 11, 2022.

A worker in personal protective equipment stands by the entrance of a residential area in Beijing that's under lockdown.

The movement of residents can be severely restricted under China's policy. In Beijing, a man retrieves an item through the fences around a community under lockdown.

Residents pick up their delivery orders outside a community in Beijing.

People who test positive and their close contacts are placed in quarantine at home or in a government facility which can include a hotel. In Anyang, Henan province, a seal is placed on the door of a residential community where people are in quarantine.

COVID-19 testing is also a routine practice in communities. In a Beijing residential compound, a woman receives a test.

Residents still partake in some recreational activities. Somewhere in the Beijing central business district, a man brings out his dog to play.

Businesses and schools are closed in areas under lockdown. But this restaurant in Beijing still manages to serve take-out.