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China locks down city of 9 million as Covid cases surge

China locks down city of 9 million as Covid cases surge

Coronavirus in China

A lockdown has been imposed in the northeastern Chinese city of nine million people Changchun as Covid cases continue to surge. For the first time in two years, China's daily Covid cases are over 10,000 as the highly contagious Omicron variant has triggered outbreaks on a scale only seen during the Wuhan outbreak

Changchun is the capital of Jilin province and an important industrial base. It has ordered the residents to work from home.
As per the new rules, only one person will be allowed out every two days to buy "daily necessities."

As per the health commission, China will be introducingrapid antigen tests for first time as Covid outbreaks spread.

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Several Chinese cities have been recording a surge in cases. Recently, Shanghai ordered its schools to close and shift to online instruction.

The asymptomatic infections caused by the Omicron variant have driven Beijing's daily count to an all-time high since it contained the first national outbreak in early 2020.

As of March 10, in mainland China, there were 112,940 confirmed cases, including those who had arrived from abroad as well as those from within the country.

"Infections in vaccinated individuals are more likely to be asymptomatic than infections in unvaccinated individuals, and vaccine coverage is now very high in China," explains Ben Cowling, an epidemiology professor at the University of Hong Kong.

(With inputs from agencies)