China reported more than 4000 new cases and two COVID-19 deaths on Saturday, the first Covid-19 deaths in the country since January 2021. The two deaths were reported in Jilin, the worst-hit province which saw nearly 80 per cent of new Covid-19 cases. It pushed authorities again to stick to their much-criticized "dynamic zero-COVID" policy which has put enormous pressure on local governments and banned most foreigners from entering China. In its worst outbreak since Wuhan in 2020, China has reported nearly 30,000 cases since the beginning of March, across 28 provinces, with more than 10,000 in Jilin alone. Chinese President Xi Jinping has also emphasized this week to adhere to the "Zero-COVID" policy as the country has put millions of people in lockdown to cut the transmission chain in at least a dozen cities including the manufacturing hub Shenzhen.<br />''<br />''The financial hub Shanghai is in a state of partial lockdown and has reported record daily COVID-19 infections on Saturday. The local health commission said the city has entered a crucial stage in battling its worst flare-up in two years. As the Shanghai municipal government said there would be no city-wide lockdown, the past few days saw mass testing at dozens of residential compounds that were sealed off for at least 48 hours, state media reported. Authorities also called on Shanghai residents to stay at home to reduce mobility during the weekend.<br />''<br />''Local media reported quoting experts that China's zero-Covid policy has put tremendous pressure on the cash-strapped local governments. China is clinging to a zero-tolerance approach to the pandemic that relies on stringent lockdowns, mass testing and quarantine in government facilities. But the cost of maintaining the strategy is growing and many local governments are struggling to balance debt control with strict virus prevention measures. China has also tweaked its testing strategy and quarantine policy aimed at easing the burden on the resources.<br />''<br />''Hong Kong has tightened anti-epidemic measures at border crossings in a bid to prevent Covid-19 infections from spilling into mainland China even as the city's daily number of cases fell to a three-week low, still more than 17000. Chief Executive Carrie Lam announced on Saturday, travelers to the mainland or Macau must undergo an additional PCR screening in a bid to curb the importation of cases. According to local media, mainland Chinese health officials have urged older people to get vaccinated against Covid-19, pointing to the high death rate among elderly Hongkongers in the city's fifth wave of cases.<br />''<br />''Meanwhile, five Chinese firms got licences to produce a generic version of Pfizer's oral Covid-19 drug. The agreements came after China for the first-time imported Pfizer's Covid-19 drug Paxlovid. The five Chinese drug makers were among 35 firms to sign non-exclusive sublicensing agreements with the United Nations-backed Medicines Patent Pool (MPP), an organization that aims to increase access to drugs in poorer countries.<br />''<br />