China Orders 51 Million People Into Lockdown as COVID-19 Outbreak Driven by “Stealth Omicron” Grows
China is facing its worst COVID-19 outbreak since early 2020, fueled by the fast-spreading variant commonly known as “stealth Omicron.”
Two years on, China is now sending 51 million people into lockdown. That includes the entire northeastern province of Jilin, where 24 million people live, and the southern cities of Shenzhen and Dongguan, with 17.5 million and 10 million, respectively.
Although record case numbers are testing the resilience of China’s no-tolerance approach, there is no sign the country is willing to pivot to ‘living with the virus.”
The latest round of lockdowns in major Chinese cities will likely add to global supply chain challenges.
Germany Issues Warning as SARS-CoV-2 Infection Rate Surges to Record Levels
Germany’s SARS-CoV-2 infection rate hit a record for the third straight day on Monday (March 14), with the renewed surge prompting the country’s top health official to issue a warning.
COVID-19 cases climbed to 1,543 per 100,000 people over seven days, continuing its steady rise since the beginning of March, according to data from the RKI public-health institute.
The outbreak shows signs of worsening and causing “many deaths,” Health Minister Karl Lauterbach said Sunday (March 13) in a tweet.
Germany hasn’t seen the precipitous drop in transmission that has occurred in other countries, such as the U.K. and the U.S. and daily COVID-19 deaths are still around 250 to 300 people.
