Highly contagious omicron variant challenges Beijing's 'zero-Covid' approach to pandemic

Millions of people across China endured lockdowns on Sunday as virus cases doubled to nearly 3,400 and anxiety mounted over the resilience of the country's 'zero-Covid' approach in the face of the worst outbreak in two years.

A nationwide surge in cases has seen authorities close schools in Shanghai, lock down central neighborhoods in the southern tech powerhouse of Shenzhen as well as whole northeastern cities, as almost 18 provinces battle clusters of the omicron and delta variants.

The city of Jilin — center of the outbreak in the northeast — was partially locked down Saturday, while residents of Yanji, an urban area of ​​nearly 700,000 bordering North Korea, were confined to their homes Sunday.... Read More: i24