Video: Rare violent protests in China Guangzhou city amid severe Covid curbs

Covid In China: The district has been in lockdown since late last month.

As China’s tough Covid lockdowns are fueling an increase in public anger, some residents in Guangzhou, one of the country’s biggest cities, staged rare protests against the stringent rules. In videos widely shared on social media, hundreds of protesters were seen marching in the street and pushing over police barriers in Guangzhou’s Haizhu district.

Soldiers and paramilitary policemen wearing face masks march through masked visitors.(AP)

Watch: Violent protests in China against Xi Jinping's lockdowns

The district has been in lockdown since late last month. The demonstrations took place in several “urban villages,” mainly poorer neighborhoods where migrant workers live, Hong Kong Economic Journal reported. The local government sent multiple police vehicles to the protests, Bloomberg reported.

As China sticks to its Covid zero policy, lockdowns are showing no sign of abating even as authorities ease some curbs, such as shortening the mandatory quarantine period for inbound travelers.

Food shortages and difficulty getting timely medical treatment are some of the biggest complaints lodged by those shut into their homes. Few posts discussing the protests could be found on Weibo and WeChat, two of the largest social media platforms in China, Bloomberg reported.

Guangzhou has locked down two other districts, including Panyu and Liwan, as daily infections surged to 5,124 on Monday. China reported more than 17,000 new local Covid cases on Monday, the highest since late April.