China is under scrutiny as it attempts to quash its largest COVID-19 outbreak since the early days of the pandemic. The latest wave of infections is the most serious in the country since the disease first emerged in Wuhan two years ago and is putting the government under immense pressure as it sticks with its ‘dynamic zero-COVID strategy’. Shanghai has been in lockdown for over a month, causing serious disruption to its 25 million residents and the economy, with a potential lockdown in Beijing on the horizon. Silvia Lindtner and Melinda Liu discuss China’s current COVID situation and explore the many secondary and tertiary effects that the Omicron wave in China is having around the world during an interview conducted on May 23, 2022.