Actions spark angry reactions amid growing frustration with China’s zero-Covid policy though some restrictions begin to ease

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A Beijing man is under criminal investigation after he skipped out on mandated home isolation, prompting authorities to send his more than 5,000 neighbours into home or government quarantine. The actions by the man, who later tested positive, come as the Chinese capital and Shanghai begin to ease restrictions.

On Monday officials said the man, in his early 40s, had been told to isolate at home after he entered a shopping plaza deemed a risk area on 23 May. They alleged that during his period of isolation he “went out many times, and moved in the community, risking the spread of the epidemic”, before he and his wife tested positive five days later. In response, authorities ordered 258 people who lived in his building to go to government quarantine centre, and the more than 5,000 others who lived in the residential community to stay at home.