SHANGHAI -- China on Monday rolled out its biggest COVID-19 lockdown since the start of the pandemic as Shanghai moved to confine some 25 million residents to their homes across the financial hub, which is battling its worst virus outbreak.
The two-stage plan, which was announced on Sunday after officials had repeatedly brushed off "rumors" of a full-scale shutdown, will see the sprawling city divided by the Huangpu River, locked down for nine days to carry out staggered checks on millions of residents as coronavirus cases surged to a record.
