China Locks Down 51 Million as COVID Surges Across the Country

Workers are seen wearing protective clothes next to some lockdown areas after the detection of new cases of covid-19 in Shanghai on March 14, 2022. Hector Retamal/AFP via Getty Images

Inside a newly shuttered Chinese hospital deemed the nation’s latest COVID-19 outbreak hotspot, overworked nurses started a shouting match with doctors demanding basic measures of protection.

At some Chinese universities, students broke down in tears after some were sealed inside their dorms without access to water or toilets.