China’s Covid-Zero Lockdown in Xinjiang Has Just Hit 100 Days
- Xinjiang residents endure harsh measures but cases have risen
- Policies make region an outlier as nation eases disruptions
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It’s China’s longest pandemic lockdown, and probably its least well-known. But residents in the country’s dry and mountainous far west have just marked 100 days of living under some of the toughest, and most strictly enforced, Covid Zero measures in the world.
Urumqi, the capital of the sprawling Xinjiang region, imposed its first major lockdown measures on Aug. 10. Despite initial success in bringing a flareup back to single digits, an uptick in cases at the end of September prompted the entire region -- roughly the size of Alaska -- to halt travel services early last month, essentially sealing itself off from the rest of China to contain virus spread.