Nearly 30 million people were under lockdown across China on Tuesday, as surging virus cases prompted the return of mass tests and hazmat-suited health officials to city streets on a scale not seen since the start of the pandemic, reported AFP.
China recorded 3,290 new Covid-19 cases on Wednesday, including 11 severe cases, as the highly transmissible Omicron variant spreads across a country that has tethered tightly to a “zero-Covid” strategy.
That approach, which pivots on hard localised lockdowns and has left China virtually cut off from the outside world for two years, appears to be on the line as Omicron finds its way into communities.
At least 13 cities nationwide were fully locked down on Tuesday, and several other cities had partial lockdowns.
