China quarantines 210 million people after two 'highly contagious' Covid strains emerge

China reported a third consecutive day of more than 1,000 cases and leader Xi Jinping put his zero-Covid policy into action with 208 million people currently living under confinement

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Chinese airport covid restriction keeps reporter waiting for hours

There is more lockdown misery for over 200 million people after tough new Covid restrictions were rolled out in China – despite only a handful of reported cases.

The country will impose the measures on 28 cities, including Wuhan, where the deadly virus was first discovered nearly three years ago.

The new 'highly contagious' strain has seen harsh measures taken in an attempt to kill the menace.

Leader Xi Jinping's zero Covid policy has come under fire after he called it a "people's war to stop the spread of the virus".

New data published by the specialist company Nomura has shown that around 208 million people are currently living under some level of confinement.

There is more Covid misery for the Chinese people (

Picture:

WUHAO/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)

Two highly contagious Omicron subvariants have officials panicking, who say BF.7 and BA.5.1.7 are responsible for a spike this month.

"According to government statistics and our survey, 28 cities are currently implementing different levels of lockdowns or some kind of district-based control measures," Nomura said.

Around 800,000 people in one district of Wuhan have been ordered to stay at home until October 30.