The US State Department has requested some government staff leave China’s Shanghai city amid COVID lockdowns

The US State Department has officially ordered all non-emergency government staff to leave the Chinese city of Shanghai immediately due to the ongoing Covid lockdowns

The recent development comes after reports Chinese President Xi Jinping was praising his country’s pandemic response, as Shanghai reports record daily case numbers in the tens of thousands.

Shanghai’s 25 million residents remain under strict lockdown orders, with China’s Covid-zero policy pushed to the brink. 

As case numbers continue to soar, there are signs members of the public are growing increasingly frustrated at the government’s response.