Image: olympics website
China is fearing that the COVID-19 outbreak may trouble Beijing's preparedness for the 2022 Winter Olympics and hence has been trying to keep the transmissions at bay locally at the cost of people's freedom and rights, said media reports.
"The authorities are willing, and doing, everything that is required to keep the case load to remain at zero. Zero local transmissions, is the official policy now being implemented allegedly at the cost of people’s freedom and violation of rights," reports The Hong Kong Post.
Some regions in China are still reporting fresh COVID-19 cases.
The Chinese mainland on Sunday reported 80 new locally transmitted COVID-19 cases, the National Health Commission said in its daily report on Monday.
Of the new local cases, 74 were reported in Zhejiang, five in Inner Mongolia, and one in Shaanxi, the commission said.
Also reported were 21 new imported cases in eight provincial-level regions, according to the commission.
No new suspected cases or new deaths related to COVID-19 were reported on Sunday, it added.