‘Made of flesh, not iron’: China’s medics battle zero-Covid exit wave

China’s medical staff are being asked to work while sick and retired workers are being recalled to duty, as frontline health professionals bear the brunt of Beijing’s about-face on its tough zero-Covid policy.

Experts have warned that the situation will deteriorate as the virus spreads from China’s big cities to rural areas with more precarious healthcare systems, as the country struggles with one of the world’s biggest Covid outbreaks.