COVID “rule-breakers” in China are paraded through the streets by armed police in a brutal crackdown, reports say.
Pictures reportedly show four people wearing masks and hazmat suits – who are alleged to have flouted the country’s strict lockdown rules – being marched in front of crowds in the city of Jingxi yesterday.
The public shaming involved each suspect being held by two cops while more riot police with guns watched on.
It comes as a string of hugely positive studies show Omicron IS milder than other strains, with the first official UK report revealing the risk of hospitalisation is 50 to 70 per cent lower than with Delta.
Covid booster jabs protect against Omicron and offer the best chance to get through the pandemic, health officials have repeatedly said.
The Sun’s Jabs Army campaign is helping get the vital extra vaccines in Brits’ arms to ward off the need for any new restrictions.
The four suspects in Jingxi were also accused of transporting illegal migrants as the country’s borders remain largely closed due to Covid, Guangxi News reports.
The sinister parade provided a “real-life warning” to the public and “deterred border-related crimes” in the city which is close to the border with Vietnam, local media reports.
Meanwhile, the Chinese city of Xi’an was raised to the “strictest” level in an effort to control the country’s worst outbreak in 21 months.
Although no cases of the Omicron variant have yet been detected in Xi’an, the government remains on edge that any outbreak could threaten the Winter Olympics in February.