Under lockdown, Xinjiang residents complain of hunger

Residents in Aksu in Xinjiang region in March 2021. Pic/AP

Residents of a city in China's far west Xinjiang region say they are experiencing hunger, forced quarantines and dwindling supplies of medicine and daily necessities after more than 40 days in a COVID-19 lockdown.

Hundreds of posts from Ghulja riveted users of Chinese social media last week, with residents sharing videos of empty fridges, feverish children, and people screaming from their windows.

Unlike in Shanghai, a glittering, cosmopolitan metropolis of 20 million people and home to many foreigners, the harsh lockdowns in smaller cities such as Ghulja have received less attention.

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The lockdown in Ghulja is also evoking fears of police brutality among the Uyghurs, the Turkic ethnic group native to Xinjiang.

3,00,337 No. of new cases reported globally in the past 24 hours
60,64,59,140 Total no. of cases worldwide
64,95,110 Total no. of deaths worldwide

Source: WHO/Johns Hopkins

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