China’s zero-Covid policy under growing strain as cases continue to spread across country

Covid-19 infections have been rising sharply across China despite increasingly stringent controls, amid growing public discontent and doubts about whether the zero-Covid approach will work against fast, stealthy Omicron variants.

On Wednesday, China reported 8,176 local infections, up from 7,475 a day earlier. Although this is a small case count compared with the rest of the world, it marks a sharp rise since the end of last month when about 1,000 daily cases were reported.

In the southern city of Guangzhou, the centre of the current surge, the outbreak continued spreading.