People queued outside a Covid testing facility in Xinyang, video released on December 15 showed amid a surge in infections in China. The country began dismantling its tough 'zero-Covid' controls last week, dropping testing requirements and easing quarantine rules that had caused mental stress for tens of millions and battered the world's second largest economy. President Xi Jinping's signature "zero-Covid" policy followed unprecedented widespread protests against it. But World Health Organization emergencies director Mike Ryan said infections were exploding in China well before the government's decision to phase out its stringent regime.
