China shuts down parks, museums and malls as Beijing sees record Covid cases

China shut down parks, shopping malls, and museums in its capital, Beijing, after the country reported 28,000 Covid-19 cases on Tuesday.

The number of Covid cases reported from Beijing has also more than doubled from 621 on Sunday to 1,438 on Tuesday, the city's record daily high since the pandemic began.

The local authorities have asked residents to stay indoors. The schools are now conducting virtual classes, restaurants have been shut down, and employees have been asked to work from home, per a report in The Independent.

The authorities have claimed that the city is facing its "most severe test of the pandemic."

China is the only major economy in the world that is following the "zero-Covid" policy by imposing snap lockdowns, forced quarantines, and travel curbs. These snap lockdowns have not only been a source of resentment among its citizens but have also affected its economy.

China has defended its policy by saying that it is helping its system deal with the crisis and prevent it from being overrun.

Over the last few months, several cases of Chinese officials breaking into houses have made it to social media. The authorities have even erected steel barriers in some compounds to stop Covid positive people from leaving their apartment buildings. Many of them have taken to social media in the last few months to express their protest against the same.

Last week, officials in the southern city of Guangzhou tied up two women and left them in the streets for breaking Covid protocols.

The incident drew harsh criticism from social media users. This was not the first time that Chinese authorities resorted to such extreme measures.

Despite the countrywide resentment, China has refused to relax its Covid containment measures. Last month, Chinese President Xi Jinping indicated that the country has no plans to relax its "zero-COVID" policy, adding that it was the "people's war to stop the spread of the virus."