Global alarm grows over China's COVID-19 surge

Hospitals across China have been overwhelmed by an explosion of Covid cases following Beijing's decision to lift strict rules

China to reopen borders, scrap quarantine for international travellers from Jan 8

Previously passengers coming from abroad had to mandatorily stay in over two weeks of quarantine in government accommodations

Beijing rolls back anti-virus controls that confined millions of people to their homes, crushed economic growth and set off protests

China has stuck with Xi's zero-COVID policy even as much of the world has lifted most restrictions

Most of Beijing is not locked down, but the streets are much quieter than usual with many shops closed and people working from home

Shanghai has been almost entirely locked down since the start of the month, snarling supply chains, with many people confined to their homes

While small by the standards of some countries, the daily case numbers are some of the largest since the virus was first detected in Wuhan

Shanghai has in recent weeks become China's Covid hotspot, and on Monday another record high was reported, with 3,500 new confirmed cases

China has gone from reporting under 100 daily infections just three weeks ago to well more than 1,000 per day for over a week

China reported 5,280 new Covid-19 cases on Tuesday, more than double the previous day's tally as the Omicron variant spreads