China locked down an industrial city of nine million people overnight and reported more than 4,000 cases of the infection on Tuesday, as the nation’s ‘zero-covid’ strategy is confronted by an Omicron wave.

A total of 4,770 new infections have been reported across the country, the bulk in the northeastern province of Jilin, as the city of Shenyang in neighbouring Liaoning province was ordered to lock down late on Monday.

China reported two COVID-19 deaths on Saturday, the first in over a year. Authorities have warned of the risk posed to growth by persistent lockdowns as the country strives to balance the health crisis with the needs of the world’s second biggest economy.

The city of Shenyang, an industrial base home to factories including carmaker BMW, reported 47 new cases on Tuesday. The authorities put all housing compounds under closed management and also barred residents from leaving without a 48-hour negative test result.

Chinese President Xi Jinping stressed the need to minimize the impact of the pandemic on China’s economy but also urged officials to stick to the current zero-covid approach.

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But Beijing's virus playbook has been stretched to the limit by the latest Omicron surge, which has forced authorities to free up hospital beds from mild-symptom patients.

Some cities such as Shanghai have avoided a full lockdown and instead imposed a web of individual building lockdowns, even as new daily asymptomatic infections there spiral into the hundreds.

Jilin provincial officials announced Monday that the first 10,000 doses of Pfizer's oral Covid drug arrived on Sunday, marking the first time Paxlovid has been used in China.

The province last week imposed strict travel curbs banning locals from leaving their cities and counties, while several cities have already confined residents at home.

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