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This Is What China’s Renewed War on Covid Looks Like

Less than a month after softening pandemic restrictions, China has reinstated some “zero-Covid” policies in an effort to control a new wave of infections surging across the country.

Covid-19 cases have climbed almost every day since late October, and China recently recorded its first coronavirus-related death in months. In response, officials have closed businesses, resumed citywide lockdowns and reinstated frequent testing requirements.

China stands alone as the only major country still going to extreme lengths to eradicate Covid-19 infections, raising questions about when, if ever, its economy might fully reopen.

The photographs below show scenes across a country once again disrupted by lockdowns.

Credit…Associated Press

Barriers formed a security checkpoint in Guangzhou in southern China’s Guangdong Province, earlier this month. Below, a health care worker taking a swab sample for Covid-19 testing in Beijing on Tuesday.

Credit…Jade Gao/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Red fences blocked access to public recreation areas and exercise machines near the Futian District border crossing in Shenzhen.

Credit…Qilai Shen for The New York Times

A newly opened mall in Nanshan District in Shenzhen, which is home to many technology companies.

Credit…Qilai Shen for The New York Times

A lock barred the entrance to a local bar at Xiasha Village in Shenzhen.

Credit…Qilai Shen for The New York Times

In Beijing on Tuesday, a woman waited to cross a nearly empty intersection in the Central Business District during rush hour. Most workers are now expected to work from home, and many offices are closed.

Credit…Kevin Frayer/Getty Images

Earlier this month, a worker in protective gear kept watch near metal barriers that blocked off shuttered shops as part of Covid-19 controls in Beijing.

Credit…Andy Wong/Associated Press

A coronavirus testing site in Beijing.

Credit…Andy Wong/Associated Press

Residents lining up for routine testing at a site in Beijing.

Credit…Kevin Frayer/Getty Images

People lined up for Covid-19 tests at a testing site in a tunnel in the central business district of Beijing this month.

Credit…Andy Wong/Associated Press

Security guards in protective masks monitored a popular shopping district in Beijing on Sunday after stores and restaurants were closed.

Credit…Kevin Frayer/Getty Images

Steam is seen on the windows as staff sit for a meal at a restaurant that was closed for indoor dining in Beijing on Sunday.

Credit…Kevin Frayer/Getty Images

A woman wearing a mask and carrying her belongings walked down a street with shuttered bars in Beijing on Sunday.

Credit…Ng Han Guan/Associated Press

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