Students trapped in quarantine beg for help online as China faces biggest Covid outbreak since 2020

China is fighting its biggest Covid-19 outbreak since the early days of the pandemic, with discontent spreading on social media after one university cluster left students reportedly without access to bathrooms or drinking water. The country reported 1,100 new locally-transmitted cases on Thursday -- which, though nowhere near the level seen in other nations, is considered high by China's standards. It marked the highest daily total since the virus emerged in Wuhan in 2020, prompting alarm among local and national leaders.

Throughout the pandemic, China has adhered to a strict zero-Covid policy that aims to stamp out all outbreaks and chains of transmission using a combination of border controls, mass testing, quarantine procedures and lockdowns.

Authorities fell back on these familiar tactics as cases began surging around the country last week, imposing targeted lockdowns for residents in high-risk areas and mandatory quarantine for close contacts.
In Shanghai, where infections are rising, the city government converted several apartments into centralized quarantine centers, forcing tenants to clear out all their belongings, according to several government notices seen by CNN.

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