Hospitals across China have been overwhelmed by an explosion of Covid cases following Beijing's decision to lift strict rules that had largely kept the virus at bay but tanked its economy and sparked widespread protests.
"The recent rapid increase in Covid-19 transmission in China increases the potential for new variants emerging," a senior US health official told reporters in a phone briefing. Beijing has hit out against"hyping, smearing and political manipulation" by the Western media concerning its Covid response. But the lifting of mandatory quarantines sparked a surge in interest in overseas travel by Chinese citizens, who have been largely confined to their country since Beijing pulled down the drawbridge in March 2020.The measure was"essential to ensure the surveillance and identification of any variants of the virus in order to protect the Italian population", health minister Orazio Schillaci said.