BEIJING - Despite sitting in a locked down apartment in Beijing sheltered from the reality of a worsening national Covid-19 outbreak, I have a tingling feeling that something has turned in the past few days.

A fire in Urumqi on Thursday night that killed 10 people sparked a huge public outcry across the country not seen since the death of Dr Li Wenliang who, in the early days of the Wuhan outbreak, was silenced by the authorities for warning his colleagues of the emergence of the new coronavirus.