Xinjiang, the heavily policed region of western China where the government has been accused of detaining more than a million Muslims, is facing a new coronavirus outbreak. While the rest of the country is reporting only a handful of daily cases -- with most of those imported -- Xinjiang has this week recorded dozens of new infections. It's the country's biggest coronavirus cluster since more than 180 infections were reported in the capital Beijing in June. According to state media, the fresh outbreak began on October 24, when a 17-year-old female tested positive "during the county's routine nucleic acid testing, a measure introduced in August in Xinjiang to improve Covid-19 alert timeliness. Xinjiang officials said the factory at the heart of the latest outbreak employed 252 workers and produces leisure and sportswear, which they added was set up as part of a plan to "help villagers find jobs and increase their income." Factories and businesses based in Xinjiang have faced allegations of forced labor and poor conditions in the past. Last month, the United States issued new import restrictions against Chinese companies it accuses of using slave labor, including products from suspected mass prison camps in the region.

Source: CNN