A foreign resident wears a costume as a health worker gives him a nucleic acid test to detect COVID-19 at a testing site on May 10, 2022, in an effort to cheer family and others up, in Beijing, China. China is trying to contain a spike in coronavirus cases in the capital Beijing after hundreds of people tested positive for the virus in recent weeks, causing local authorities to initiate mass testing in most districts, close schools and stores, ban gatherings and inside dining in all restaurants, and to lockdown some neighbourhoods in an effort to maintain the country's zero COVID strategy.(Photo by Kevin Frayer/Getty Images)





A security guard wearing personal protective equipment (PPE) sleeps next to an entrance of a residential area under lockdown due to Covid-19 coronavirus restrictions in Beijing on May 12, 2022. (Photo by Noel Celis/AFP Photo)





A delivery worker, who says he is living at a bus stop because he has been unable to return home for weeks due to the lockdown, brushes his teeth on a street, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, in Shanghai, China, May 12, 2022. (Photo by Aly Song/Reuters)





Primary school students attend an emergency evacuation drill on China's national day for disaster prevention and relief on May 12, 2022 in Hefei, Anhui Province of China. China's national day for disaster prevention and relief falls on May 12 every year. (Photo by Ge Qingzhao/VCG via Getty Images)





Primary school students attend an emergency evacuation drill on China's national day for disaster prevention and relief on May 12, 2022 in Hefei, Anhui Province of China. China's national day for disaster prevention and relief falls on May 12 every year. (Photo by Ge Qingzhao/VCG via Getty Images)





Medical workers in protection suits take a rest after conducting COVID tests for residents near a commercial office complex on Thursdays, May 12, 2022, in Beijing. (Photo by Andy Wong/AP Photo)





A citizen rides through waterlogged street as torrential rains hit Zhongshan on May 12, 2022 in Zhongshan, Guangdong Province of China. (Photo by VCG/VCG via Getty Images)





A health worker takes a swab sample from a woman to be tested for the Covid-19 coronavirus at a makeshift testing site in Beijing on May 14, 2022. (Photo by Jade Gao/AFP Photo)





A woman takes a rapid antigen test for the Covid-19 coronavirus at a community centre in Beijing on May 14, 2022. (Photo by Jade Gao/AFP Photo)





A child looks at a resident wearing a face mask plays a traditional music instrument outside the closed Chaoyang Park due to pandemic measures by authorities on Sunday, May 15, 2022, in Beijing. (Photo by Andy Wong/AP Photo)





A worker rides a cart loaded with share bicycles past lines of unused share bicycles parked along a street in the Chaoyang district during what is normally the morning rush hour, as most nonessential workers have been ordered to work from home on Monday, May 16, 2022, in Beijing. Authorities say most of Shanghai has stopped the spread of the coronavirus in the community and fewer than 1 million people remain under strict lockdown. China's largest city is moving toward reopening as economic data showed the gloomy impact of China's “zero-COVID” policy. (Photo by Andy Wong/AP Photo)





A resident gets a throat swabbed during a mass COVID test on Monday, May 16, 2022, in Beijing. (Photo by Andy Wong/AP Photo)





A resident walks by a worker in protective suit standing watch at a barricaded entrance to the shuttered business shops on Monday, May 16, 2022, in Beijing. (Photo by Andy Wong/AP Photo)





Two women chat outside a mall at a business district in Beijing on May 16, 2022. China's retail sales slumped to its lowest in two years while factory output plunged, official data showed on May 16, capturing the dismal economic fallout from Beijing's zero-Covid policy. (Photo by AFP Photo/Stringer)





A worker in protective suit sprays disinfectant as residents line up for mass COVID test on Monday, May 16, 2022, in Beijing. (Photo by Andy Wong/AP Photo)





Residents wearing face masks walk by a closure notice on display at a restaurant after authorities ordered the closure of non-essential businesses due to pandemic measures on Monday, May 16, 2022, in Beijing. (Photo by Andy Wong/AP Photo)





Two women hug at a closed street during lockdown, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, in Shanghai, China, May 16, 2022. (Photo by Aly Song/Reuters)





A staff member serves a customer at a stall set up outside a restaurant, after the city banned dine-in services amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Beijing, China on May 16, 2022. (Photo by Carlos Garcia Rawlins/Reuters)





A resident checks his phone behind the barriers of a blocked area during lockdown, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, in Shanghai, China, May 16, 2022. (Photo by Aly Song/Reuters)





Residents enjoy a day at a park on Wednesday, May 18, 2022, in Beijing. Most of Beijing is not locked down, but the streets are much quieter than usual with many shops closed and people working from home as the Chinese capital tries to control a small but persistent COVID-19 outbreak. (Photo by Ng Han Guan/AP Photo)