The New York Times reporter in Hong Kong Austin Ramsay wrote that the Xinjiang region, where hundreds of thousands of Muslims are detained in what China calls indoctrination camps, does not have enough information, and that the Uighurs are afraid that any total closure in the region will lead many to starve.

The reporter pointed to the Chinese government's announcement that the northwestern region has resumed major construction projects, oilfield workers have returned to work, and garment factories have started manufacturing masks and other projects.

Pictures and official reports show that life in Xinjiang is returning to normal more than a month after the region was completely closed to control the Corona virus, as the People's Daily reported on March 12.

However, questions remain about the severity of the outbreak in the area, which the reporter described as largely underdeveloped, and whether a tight closure has made it difficult for some residents to survive.

Ramsay mentioned that the official count of Corona cases in the region with a population of 24.5 million is 76 cases and three deaths, but the Uighurs living abroad were concerned about the fate of up to a million or more Uighurs, Kazakhs and other members of the minority Muslim majority who were detained In a sprawling network of indoctrination camps that the government says are essential to fighting religious extremism.

Uighurs abroad questioned the official number of cases and feared the virus could spread quickly in the region if it reached camps, prisons or rural areas with limited health care. For many Uighurs, cutting off contact with the outside world was largely due to the government crackdown, which added to the uncertainty.

The reporter quoted Jivlan Sheremmitt, a Uighur resident in Turkey, as saying that the outbreak had made him fear for the health of his mother, who lives in Xinjiang and was sentenced to five years in prison on charges of supporting terrorism, and expressed concern that if the virus spread in the region, hope would be weak for his mother to avoid infection Contagious.

What added to Sheremet's concern, according to the reporter, is the frequent news from the country that the virus invaded at least four prisons in three provinces in eastern China last month, affecting more than five hundred prisoners and a guard.

The reporter suggested that by March 20, more than 20,000 people from poor provinces, mostly Uighurs, in southern Xinjiang, had been sent to work in cities including Hotan, Kashgar and Urumqi, the region's capital. According to the Xinjiang Daily, the target was to move 50,000 people by the end of March.