China's Covid spike is the highest ever been lockdown in Changchun
Key Takeaways:
- China ordered a lockdown for the city's nine million residents on Friday after a new sharp rise in Covid-19 cases in the northeastern city of Changchun.
- Meanwhile, in Shanghai, which is dealing with the pandemic's worst outbreak, students from kindergarten to college are being tested.
China ordered a lockdown for the city's nine million residents on Friday after a new spike in Covid-19 cases in the northeastern city of Changchun.
Mainland According to Reuters, China reported over 1,500 new local Covid-19 infections on Saturday, the most since the initial country-wide outbreak at the beginning of 2020, as the Omicron variant prompts cities across the country to tighten security measures.
On Friday, China's daily caseload surpassed 1,000 for the first time in two years.
Non-essential businesses have been closed, and public transportation has been suspended, forcing residents to stay at home and undergo three rounds of mass testing. Changchun has ordered all businesses except essential ones to shut down, and residents have been prohibited from leaving their homes for non-essential reasons.
Meanwhile, Shanghai authorities, which are dealing with the pandemic's worst outbreak, are testing students from kindergarten to college. The city has largely avoided using sweeping measures like lockdowns common in smaller cities, but the growing outbreak may put this more targeted response to the test.
As Omicron constantly breaks through one of the world's largest most stringent containment regimes, the 'Covid Zero' tactic that helped keep China largely virus-free for much of the pandemic now appears to be buckling.
The 1,500 daily cases in China were far fewer than in many other countries. Still, the rising number could complicate Beijing's 'dynamic-clearance' goal of containing the spread of disease as quickly as possible.