In pandemic news, China has locked down the southern city of Shenzhen, home to 17.5 million people, as it scrambles to blunt the country’s worst-ever coronavirus outbreak. All Shenzhen residents will have to undergo three rounds of testing and are largely confined to their homes. Hong Kong continues to face its worst surge of the pandemic, with hospitals forced to treat an overflow of patients in parking lots and lobbies.
COVID cases are on the rise across Europe, with France, Germany, the U.K., Italy and the Netherlands reporting upticks in daily cases. Despite the rising case counts, France lifted most of its public health measures today, including the widespread use of masks indoors. Meanwhile, some health experts in Britain are calling on officials to expand and speed up a plan to make a fourth vaccine dose available to vulnerable people.