As COVID-19 cases continued to grow on Monday, China sent thousands of military and medical personnel to assist in conducting COVID-19 tests for the country′s 26 million citizens.

In one of the country′s biggest-ever public health responses, China′s People′s Liberation Army (PLA) sent more than 2,000 medical personnel to support forces in Shanghai. More than 10,000 healthcare workers arrived in Shanghai by high-speed rail and aircraft from Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Beijing provinces.12,400 institutions in the country could conduct COVID-19 tests on 900 million people per day. In response to the escalating number of cases, the city has converted several hospitals, gymnasiums, apartment complexes, and other venues, including the Shanghai New International Expo Center. 

Peoples’ frustration has also reached its peak with several uncertainties and concerns over the crowded and unsanitary central quarantine centers, as well as issues in obtaining food and vital medical assistance.The pressure on the city′s healthcare workers and the government is rising as it seems difficult to manage the city′s lockdown and deal with peoples’ grievances. Amongst these, Suzhou, in China′s east, claimed to have discovered a form of the Omicron BA.1.1 subvariant that differed from those found in the domestic database and the worldwide variant monitoring database. (Reuters: April 4, 2022)