Shanghai lockdown tests resilience of 'Zero-COVID' strategy, as economic and social tolls grow

Shanghai's Covid-19 infections are continuing to to escalate, despite a strict lockdown of more than 25 million residents.

HONG KONG -- China’s largest city is buckling under its biggest COVID-19 outbreak of the pandemic, with infections continuing to rise, despite a strict lockdown of more than 25 million Shanghai residents.

Cases in Shanghai surged on Wednesday to another record high of 26,330, of which just 1,190 were symptomatic. There is no end in sight to the lockdown, despite there being no official deaths reported.

Yet the Chinese government continues to relentlessly pursue its no-tolerance ‘Zero-COVID’ strategy as the costs on the economy and social stability are mounting.

China has hit back at the United States for ordering its non-emergency consulate staff and diplomats’ families to leave the locked-down city, saying it was "weaponizing" the issue.