China's NHC reiterated its commitment to its "dynamic" zero-tolerance policy on Wednesday as local authorities in Shanghai confirmed the worst fears of the financial hub's approximately 26 million residents: what was initially introduced as a 9-day staggered lockdown has been extended "indefinitely" as the number of newly confirmed cases soared to a new record on Tuesday.

Authorities counted more than 13,000 new cases in Shanghai alone, more than half of the 20,000+ new cases across the entire country. According to Bloomberg, these tallies have surpassed the toll from the early days of the pandemic, when the virus was still raging in Wuhan.