China is reeling under a fresh surge of coronavirus infections, having reported more local symptomatic Covid-19 cases so far this year than it recorded in all of 2021.
In view of this, all 17 million people in the Chinese tech hub of Shenzhen began their first full day under lockdown on Monday, while restrictions spread across Shanghai and other major cities as well.
The southern city of Shenzhen imposed the measure on Sunday to counter an Omicron flare-up in factories and neighbourhoods linked to nearby Hong Kong, which is recording scores of daily deaths as the virus runs rampant.
Major Apple supplier Foxconn suspended its operations in Shenzhen, the company said Monday, as the lockdown bit hard into economic activity across the factory hub.