China locked down an industrial city of nine million people overnight and reported more than 4,000 virus cases yesterday, as the nation’s “zero-Covid” strategy is confronted by an Omicron wave.
Health authorities reported 4,770 new infections across the country, the bulk in the northeastern province of Jilin, as the city of Shenyang in neighbouring Liaoning province was ordered to lockdown late Monday.
China has moved fast in recent weeks to snuff out virus clusters with a pick-and-mix of hyper-local lockdowns, mass testing and citywide closures. It reported two Covid-19 deaths on Saturday, the first in over a year.