China Locks Down Entire Province in Struggle to Contain Covid Outbreak

Chinese authorities locked down the entire province of Jilin, which shares a border with North Korea and is home to 24 million people, in order to contain the latest outbreak of Covid.

Beijing has relied on strict lockdowns and massive testing efforts to control previous outbreaks, attempting to bring Covid cases in the country to zero. The lockdown of Jilin marks the first time since the pandemic began more than two years ago that the authorities have resorted to shuttering an entire province. However, that strategy is now being tested with the largest outbreaks China has seen since the beginning of the pandemic in 2020.

Authorities locked down the city of Shenzen, home to 17 million people, for a week starting on Monday after recording 66 positive Covid cases in the population on Saturday. The city is home to one of the busiest ports in the world, Shenzhen Yantian Port, which so far remains operational but could cause major supply chain disruptions if closed.