China expands lockdowns as virus surges in US, Europe
Beijing: China put hundreds of thousands more people under lockdown Tuesday to try and stamp out a worsening Coronavirus outbreak, as infections hit new highs in multiple US states and Europe.
Covid surges have wreaked havoc around the world, with many nations in Europe and North America trying to strike a balance between economically punishing restrictions and controlling the spread of the virus.
The United States halved the isolation period for asymptomatic cases to try and blunt the disruptions, while France ordered firms to have employees work from home for at least three days a week.
Despite facing a much smaller outbreak compared with global virus hotspots, China has not relaxed its "zero Covid" strategy, imposing stay-at-home orders in many parts of the city of Yan'an. The hundreds of thousands of affected residents there joined the 13 million people in the city of Xi'an, who entered a sixth day of home confinement as China battled its highest daily case numbers in 21 months.
This lockdown is the most sweeping in China since the similarly-sized city Wuhan was cut off from the world in the early days of the pandemic.
The surges in many countries have been propelled by the highly transmissible Omicron virus variant, hammering vulnerable sectors such as travel.
Some 11,500 flights have been scrapped worldwide since Friday, and tens of thousands more delayed, during one of the year's busiest travel periods.
The surge in the United States has been fuelled by the Omicron variant, as well as large pockets of unvaccinated residents and a lack of access to quick and easy testing.
The United States is the nation hit hardest by the pandemic, and is closing in on its daily high of 250,000 cases recorded last January. Many nations have been forced to bring back unpopular and economically painful restrictions. Germany will introduce new restrictions from Tuesday. Private gatherings will be limited to ten vaccinated people -- two for non-vaccinated people -- and nightclubs will be closed. Denmark and Iceland also reported record daily cases.
