China has locked down Shenyang, an industrial city of 9 million people, and reported more than 4,700 virus cases on Tuesday, as the nation’s “zero-Covid” strategy is confronted by an Omicron wave.
China has reported more than 30000 new cases this month. Some 12,000 new cases have been reported in the past three days alone, according to health officials, who have warned the country’s defenses are facing the highly transmissible Omicron subvariant BA.2 for the first time.
These numbers may seem small in a population of 1.4 billion when compared to the rest of the world. But to the ruling Communist Party, the outbreak represents a significant political challenge. Experts say, China’s zero-Covid policy is showing signs of strain. But moving away from it now could be a disaster.
Local media reported more than 70 Chinese officials have been sacked or disciplined over the past month as Covid-19 spreads across the country which forced them to enforce an even stricter Zero covid policy.