A Chinese city of nine million was ordered into lockdown on Friday and Shanghai shut its schools as authorities scrambled to halt a COVID-19 outbreak that has pushed nationwide cases to their highest levels in two years.
Changchun, the capital of northeastern Jilin province and an important industrial base, ordered residents to stay at home, allowing one person out every two days to buy "daily necessities".
That is up from fewer than 100 cases just three weeks ago as the highly transmissible Omicron variant challenges China's zero-COVID approach to tackling the pandemic. Jilin, which has reported hundreds of cases in recent days, is one of more than a dozen provinces facing upticks along with major cities like Beijing and Shanghai.
The kits will now be available online or at pharmacies for clinics and ordinary citizens to buy for "self-test", the health commission said, although nucleic acid tests will continue to be the main method of testing.The government has invested much of its prestige in its ability to control COVID-19, and Friday's measures appeared to pour cold water on hopes China would scrap its disruptive zero-tolerance approach anytime soon.
But in the face of rising pandemic fatigue, top Chinese officials have in recent weeks urged local officials throughout the country to avoid such drastic steps.
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