China Locks Down City of 9 Million Amid New Spike in COVID-19 Cases

Residents queue to undergo nucleic acid tests for the COVID-19 at a residential area in Changchun city, Jilin Province on March 11, 2022. STR/AFP via Getty Images

The Chinese regime on Friday ordered a lockdown of the 9 million residents of the northeastern city of Changchun amid a new spike in COVID-19 cases in the area attributed to the highly contagious Omicron variant.

Residents are required to remain at home, with one family member permitted to venture out to buy food and other necessities every two days.

All residents must undergo three rounds of mass testing, while non-essential businesses have been closed and transport links suspended.

The latest lockdowns, which also include Yucheng with 500,000 people in the eastern province of Shandong, show the Chinese communist regime is sticking to the draconian approach to the pandemic it has enforced for most of the past two years, despite some earlier indications that authorities would be implementing more targeted measures.

A resident undergoes a nucleic acid test for COVID-19 in Changchun city, Jilin Province, China, on March 11, 2022. STR/AFP via Getty Images

The Chinese regime reported another 98 cases of local transmission in Jilin province that surrounds Changchun, a center of the country’s auto industry. In the entire province, cases have exceeded 1,100 since the latest outbreak first struck late last week.

Just two cases were reported within Changchun itself on Friday, bringing its total to 78 in recent days.

The actual number of COVID-19 infections is difficult to verify, as the Chinese regime routinely suppresses or alters information.

Authorities repeatedly pledged to lock down any community where one or more cases were found under the Chinese regime’s “zero tolerance” approach to the pandemic.

Authorities have also ordered a partial lockdown in the nearby city of Jilin that bears the same name as the surrounding province and severed travel links with other cities.

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At Jilin Agricultural Science and Technology University, students complained on social media that those who tested positive were being confined in school libraries and other buildings in poor conditions.

The school has transferred more than 6,000 people to quarantine, according to state broadcaster CCTV.

Aerial images showed students in hazmat suits lining up in the cold and dark waiting to be transferred.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.