On Monday, @AFP reported on residents in China’s far western #Xinjiang region taking to social media to protest draconian and heavy-handed lockdown measures, particularly in the capital of Urumqi.

Here’s a #thread on what’s happened since:

After recording no new infections for one week, Urumqi announced Monday that virus-free residential communities could adjust their coronavirus control measures (e.g. let residents move about within their compounds, allow food and grocery sellers to reopen) https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/dbTlmnrA0IHZwhVgBgCcRA

Also on Monday, Urumqi’s party secretary — the city’s top-ranking official — shared his cellphone number online so people who needed help “resolving difficulties” could call him directly. Dozens of other officials in the city followed suit. https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/_fc-MyTNOUInQ5FORjmOgQ

An Urumqi resident told @SixthTone that, for the first time in a month, her residential compound was letting 1 person per household go outdoors for a 20-minute walk around the compound. She rejected the invitation because she didn’t feel like being watched “like a prisoner.”

A woman surnamed Zhu told @SixthTone she has been held in isolation at a hotel in Changji, 30km from Urumqi, since July 23. She has tested negative for the coronavirus 6 times but still can’t leave. She also hasn’t been allowed to see her husband, who is in a separate room.

“My demand is simple: Just let us go home. We are neither the virus nor virus carriers,” said Zhu, who is pregnant and hails from Wuhan, where the coronavirus was first detected.

Zhu’s family had been living in Urumqi’s Tianshan District, where a local gathering was believed to have played a role in the recent outbreak. The district went into “wartime mode” immediately after locally transmitted infections were reported in mid-July. http://www.sixthtone.com/news/1005947/urumqi-shuts-down-after-new-coronavirus-cases-confirmed

Since a spike in confirmed infections, Urumqi has conducted multiple rounds of health screenings for its entire population of 3.5 million, culminating in the draconian lockdown measures to contain the outbreak.

Kashgar Prefecture, a vast expanse in western Xinjiang with over 4.6 million people, also shut down overnight following the Urumqi outbreak.

A disease control official in Taxkorgan County near the border with Tajikistan told @SixthTone movement restrictions are still being observed there even though no infections have been detected locally. The county is awaiting direction from higher authorities, the official said.

Since mid-July, Xinjiang has recorded over 820 coronavirus cases. As of Tuesday, the remaining 209 patients, including 49 people without symptoms, were all in Urumqi. http://wjw.xinjiang.gov.cn/hfpc/tzgg/202008/bb9a9743c8574e69acc6751febce8f3e.shtml

Zhu, who remains in isolation at the Changji hotel, said she is bitterly disappointed with the authorities’ handling of the coronavirus outbreak so far. She has called public hotlines several times, but none have been able to help her.

“After the outbreak, I want to leave here completely in three years, and return to the interior,” Zhu said. “There are far too many uncertainties here.”

(all of the research & reporting above by @SixthTone’s Yuan Ye)