Hong Kong's top scientists urged the government on Tuesday to transition from China's zero-Covid strategy before the next outbreak unless the financial hub wants to be a "closed port forever".

Hong Kong used strict travel curbs to keep the virus at bay for two years, leaving the city increasingly isolated, and a deadly Omicron outbreak since January has led to an exodus of residents and businesses fleeing its tight restrictions.

The massive surge in cases has ravaged the city's healthcare system and left it with one of the highest Covid-19 fatality rates in the developed world, with the government facing criticism for failing to vaccinate its elderly population in time.

On Monday, city leader Carrie Lam announced eased travel restrictions from April, but did not provide a long-term roadmap out of the crisis.

Epidemiologist Gabriel Leung, who leads a team of scientists battling the virus, told reporters Tuesday that Hong Kong must begin living with the virus unless it "remains a closed port forever".

"The past two months were a very painful experience of loss for us and it does not allow us to wait," he said.

He stressed the importance of getting vaccinated while saying that endemicity is the "safest road because we do not know if the next new variant is weaker or stronger than those we have seen".

When questioned by reporters about Leung's recommendations, Albert Au, a principal officer at Hong Kong's Centre for Health Protection, said the city would stick to "dynamic zero" for now.

In line with China, where a zero-Covid strategy has seen snap lockdowns imposed on millions of residents after even a handful of cases are detected, Hong Kong has maintained some of the world's toughest pandemic restrictions.

A move away from a zero-tolerance strategy would mean diverging from China's path.

Last week, President Xi Jinping urged China to "stick to" zero-Covid even as several cities forced tens of millions of residents to stay home, with cases rising to their highest number since the early days of the pandemic.

Scientists estimate that around 4.4 million people in Hong Kong -- or 60 percent of the population -- have been infected so far during the Omicron wave.

Official figures have clocked over a million cases and more than 6,100 deaths since January -- primarily among the unvaccinated elderly population.

Health authorities have been reluctant in recent days to provide data on whether vaccinated Covid victims had received the Chinese-made Sinovac or the mRNA vaccine BioNTech -- used in much of Europe and the United States.

Leung said Tuesday BioNTech is recommended as a booster for those who first received Sinovac, but added the most important thing is to get three jabs -- no matter which vaccine.

China locks down millions more as Covid spreads
Beijing (AFP) March 20, 2022 - China on Sunday imposed stay-at-home orders on millions more people in the country's northeast as it battles its biggest Covid-19 outbreak in two years.

The country has largely kept the virus at bay since it brought to heel its initial outbreak in 2020 using targeted lockdowns, mass testing and travel restrictions.

But the Omicron strain has broken through its defences in recent months and taken hold in multiple cities.

Jilin, the second-biggest city in Jilin province, will lock down about 4.5 million inhabitants for three days from Monday night, local authorities announced.

More than 4,000 new infections were reported across China on Sunday -- with two-thirds in Jilin province, which borders Russia and North Korea.

Changchun, Jilin province's capital, said Saturday it would also tighten restrictions for three days.

Since March 11, Changchun's nine million people have only been allowed out once every two days to buy food.

The new measures mean only medical personnel and other anti-epidemic workers will be authorised to leave their homes.

But restrictions are being eased in the southern tech hub of Shenzhen, which locked down its 17.5 million residents a week ago.

Public transport will resume fully from Monday, alongside some administrative and business activities, local health authorities said Sunday.

Non-essential businesses will remain closed however and the downtown Futian business district is still under strict anti-Covid measures.

Shenzhen is home to some of China's biggest tech firms, meaning any curbs on businesses come at a significant economic cost.

China on Saturday recorded its first two deaths from Covid in more than a year.

Tens of millions of people are currently in lockdown in other regions and authorities are rushing to create hospital beds, fearing the outbreak could put the healthcare system under strain.

Jilin province has built eight temporary hospitals and two quarantine centres.

East of the capital Beijing, the city of Tangshan banned traffic for 24 hours on Sunday in an effort to slow the virus' spread -- and will test all its 7.7 million people.

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China locks down city of 9 million as virus ripples across country
Beijing (AFP) March 22, 2022
China locked down an industrial city of nine million people overnight and reported more than 4,000 virus cases on Tuesday, as the nation's "zero-Covid" strategy is confronted by an Omicron wave. Health authorities reported 4,770 new infections across the country, the bulk in the northeastern province of Jilin, as the city of Shenyang in neighbouring Liaoning province was ordered to lock down late Monday. China has moved fast in recent weeks to snuff out virus clusters with a pick-and-mix of hype ... read more