On November 27, China reported its fifth consecutive daily record of 40,347 new COVID-19 infections, of which 3,822 were symptomatic and 36,525 asymptomatic. The new record comes amid widening protests in several cities, including the capital Beijing and a major financial hub. This is reported by Shanghai, Reuters and AFP.

The day before, the authorities reported 39,791 new cases – 3,709 symptomatic infections and 36,082 asymptomatic ones (which China counts separately).

There were no deaths, down from one the previous day, leaving the death toll at 5,233. As of Nov. 27, mainland China had confirmed 311,624 symptomatic cases.

The number of infections rose as hundreds of protesters and police clashed in Shanghai late Sunday, as protests against China’s strict COVID restrictions spread to several cities.

Protests in Shanghai, Beijing, Wuhan and other cities

Police arrested two people in Shanghai on Monday, where demonstrators gathered over the weekend to protest health restrictions due to COVID-19 and demand more freedoms, AFP reported.

When asked why they were arrested, a police officer said one of the two men “disobeyed our orders.” Officers also removed the others from the scene and ordered them to delete the images from their phones, AFP reported.

Demonstrators gathered in a district of Shanghai on Sunday to protest China’s tough policies, which have been in place for nearly three years, and to demand more political freedom.

There were clashes with the police, many people were detained. Shanghai police have not yet released the number of arrests over the weekend.

Streets were closed on Sunday evening after protests resumed on Monday morning with a reduced police presence, but blue barriers were erected along the sidewalks to prevent further gatherings.

Crowds of protesters, responding to calls on social media, expressed their anger in Beijing, Shanghai and Wuhan on Sunday, catching police off guard in a mobilization of demonstrators on a scale not seen since the 1989 pro-democracy uprisings.

There are thousands of Covid cases in the capital

The megalopolises of Guangzhou and Chongqing, home to thousands of cases, are still struggling to control outbreaks, while hundreds of infections were reported in several cities across the country on Sunday.

China’s capital, Beijing, reported 840 symptomatic cases and 3,048 asymptomatic cases on Sunday, compared with 747 symptomatic cases and 3,560 asymptomatic cases the previous day, according to local authorities.

The financial center of Shanghai reported 16 symptomatic cases and 128 asymptomatic cases, compared with 11 symptomatic cases and 119 asymptomatic cases the day before, local health authorities said.

Guangzhou, a southern city of nearly 19 million people, reported 199 new cases of local transmission of symptoms and 7,166 asymptomatic cases, compared with 146 symptomatic cases and 7,266 asymptomatic cases a day earlier, local authorities said.

Chongqing reported 238 new local symptomatic COVID-19 infections and 9,447 asymptomatic cases, compared with 194 symptomatic cases and 8,667 asymptomatic cases the previous day, local authorities said.