China battling ‘severe and complex’ Covid-19 outbreak

A worker takes a swab from a passenger for a Covid-19 test at the Guangzhou train station (Ng Han Guan/AP)

China is battle its worst Covid-19 outbreak, driven by the Omicron variant, with health officials calling the situation “severe and complex”.

The country has counted more than 56,000 cases since March 1, according to national health officials who gave a press briefing on Friday.