Millions more locked down as China battles Omicron spread

Five million people were placed on home confinement in the city of Anyang, where cases were linked to an outbreak in Tianjin.

Five million residents in China’s central city of Anyang have started home confinement in a new lockdown to curb the spread of the highly transmissible Omicron variant of the coronavirus, according to state media.

China’s city of Xi’an, a city of 13 million people, was also placed under lockdown in late December.

Elsewhere, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is under renewed pressure amid a new surge in cases, after an email was leaked inviting about 100 staff to bring drinks to a party during the country’s first lockdown in May 2020.

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