‘China’s Fauci’ probed for plagiarism

BEIJING: A top doctor in China’s fight against the coronavirus is under investigation for plagiarism, weeks after making a social media post questioning the country’s zero-tolerance strategy to control the pandemic.

Beijing has basked in its success in bringing to heel a virus that first emerged in the central city of Wuhan in late 2019, but was virtually extinguished through hard lockdowns, closed borders and massive test and trace campaigns.

But the Delta variant has breached China’s defences, with record local infections in dozens of cites -- albeit still in low numbers -- prodding authorities to reintroduce travel restrictions, mass testing and hyperlocal lockdowns.