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China sends Covid-19 inspection teams to 10 provinces in race to beat Omicron surge
- Shandong, Fujian, Shaanxi and Shanghai among places visited by central health teams aiming to push outbreak control
- As local officials feel zero-Covid heat, Shanghai party chief pledges to ‘build an iron wall of epidemic control’
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China has sent inspection teams to 10 provinces to implement swift containment measures as the countrywide Covid-19 surge driven by the Omicron variant shows no signs of slowing.
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Culture and tourism deputy minister Du Jiang headed the team dispatched to Shandong, one of the hardest-hit provinces where asymptomatic infections recently drove case numbers to levels not seen since the pandemic first hit in 2020.
Meeting provincial officials on Tuesday, Du said the inspection visit aimed to urge local authorities to strictly implement epidemic controls and block loopholes to ensure speedier responses to Covid-19 outbreaks.
“Zero-Covid in society must be reached as soon as possible to safeguard the bottom line of preventing a large-scale rebound in cases,” a government statement quoted Du as saying.
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Jilin bears brunt of China's Omicron surge, Shanghai hit by record rise in Covid-19 cases
Jilin bears brunt of China's Omicron surge, Shanghai hit by record rise in Covid-19 cases
The inspection teams are the latest effort by Beijing to pressure local governments to achieve its zero-Covid “dynamic clearance” target – as the highly transmissible Omicron variant spreads like wildfire across 28 of the country’s 31 provinces and regions.
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