this is cnn breaking news. >> hello and welcome to our viewers around the world and in the united states this hour as well. i'm hala gorani. reporting live from lviv in ukraine, where it is just past 6:00 in the morning. officials here in ukraine are flatly rejecting russia's demands to surrender the besieged city of mariupol. the deadline from moscow by the way passed a couple of hours ago. mariupol has been the scene of some of the worst attacks and devastation by russian forces, leaving behind widespread destruction.

and countless casualties. while so many civilians remain trapped amid the heavy bombardment, 7200 were evacuated from mariupol on sunday through humanitarian corridors. and as the fighting around mariupol rages, we're learning that a senior russian naval officer is among those killed. since the start of the invasion, ukraine says five russian generals have also been killed. and in just the last few hours, several explosions have rocked kyiv. one was caught on cctv video. you see it there. we're told both residential and business areas were hit and at least one person was killed. ukraine's president spoke with cnn >> translator: i was ready over the last two years. and i think that -- i think that

without negotiations, we cannot end this war. i think that all the people who think that this dialogue is shallow and that it is not going to resolve anything, they just don't understand that this is very valuable. if there is just 1% chance for us to stop this war, i think that we need to take this chance. we need to do that. >> that was president zelenskyy. now the expanding bombardment of mariupol has killed an unknown number of civilians so far. hundreds had been sheltering in the buildings that russia has hit. the city council says some residents have been forcibly deported to russian territories. and as phil black reports, there is no safety for those who remain. >> reporter: some of the buildings being destroyed in mariupol have been crowded with

desperate people, civilians hoping to find refuge from russia's assault. the city council says that now includes a bombed school, thought to be sheltering hundreds of people, including women, children, the elderly. have any survived? no one knows for sure. a local official says there is nowhere to get the information from. mariupol's civil collapse is total. it's been days since we heard anything about efforts to rescue people from this side. the last report said 130 people were pulled from the debris of the theater where around a thousand or more were said to be sheltering. mostly in the basement. this video was shot inside the theater before the attack. the russian word for children spelled out on the ground outside in huge letters didn't prevent the strike which destroyed most of this building. caterina eskaya lived across

from that theater and delivered food and other aid to the people hiding out there. she says "it's difficult to describe the sympathy she felt for them. they were terrified, cowering in horror at the sounds of planes overhead, always afraid of a bomb dropping. alventian lived under russian attack in mariupol for 21 days. "this is not just a city," she says. "this is my whole life." she survived without power in freezing conditions with little food with eight other members of her family until the building was hit. they pulled dead neighbors from the rubble and decided to leave the city. alventina says she can't imagine life without mariupol. she will return. but now in her burning city there are lots of people, lots of children under burning rubble, others in shelters. the journey out of the besieged

city is slow and dangerous, but every day relatively small numbers are leaving whatever way they can along what are supposed to be agreed corridors. a local official says some people have been fired upon. others have had their vehicles seized at russian checkpoints. the people of mariupol have no good options. stay and endure the horror of russia's bombardment, or face danger and uncertainty, leaving all they know behind. phil black, cnn, lviv, ukraine. >> horrible situation there in mariupol. and joining me now to discuss the latest developments is robert english. robert english is the director of central european studies at the university of southern california. nice to have you with us. nice to talk to you again have. we reached astalemate in the sense, not that russia is stopping its campaign over relentless bombardment, hitting civilian targets as well. but russia's not able really to advance in any significant way into the city centers a month

in. >> i think we are. and it's notable that not only have russian advances essentially halted, but ukraine is making some counterattacks. and on the mykolaiv front, the russians' hoped for offensive to the west towards odesa, they're now in partial retreat. i think on a whole this is a stalemate. it's ground to a halt, and the killing goes on. there is no military purpose. there is no advance at all. >> so what do -- what options do the ukrainians have right now? >> well, it's an interesting question because some -- even some friends of ukraine are asking zelenskyy to consider surrendering mariupol because it's hopeless. it will fall, and the cost to civilian life will be high as well as the decimation of all of the city's defenders. that might make sense in a very narrow framework, but i think

they're going to fight to the end, and this will become something so important, so motivating. remember stalingrad, right? remember thermopoli when the greeks fought the persians. we have in history these battles that go down as iconic when the bravery of the defenders, even if they went down in defeat. and they serve the larger purpose of mobilizing support at home and abroad. they might keep fighting. >> exactly. morale is very high among ukrainians. the other question is if you do surrender mariupol, you're rewarding absolutely horrific behavior. and we know vladimir putin is not willing to stop, despite the fact that as we've discussed now, his military is not making the advances that he'd hoped for. >> not only are they not making the advances, but i'm increasingly convinced that they're hollowing out. we are seeing units up in kyiv

and kharkiv that are 80 or 90% depleted. they are simply gone. they can't be reinforced. those units have to be replaced. we are seeing the call-ups. we're seeing mobilization, right, of conscripts that were not supposed to be mobilized all over the country, from the far east to the ural mountains and south. we're even seeing the recruitment of some kids from 17, 18-year-old kids who are essentially in the young pioneers, these sort of army patriotic clubs, now being prepared to go into combat. this is desperation. this is scraping the barrel. and i don't know how long the russians can hold out, the ukrainian resistance. you know what napoleon said. you've all heard this. the moral as to the physical in battle is three to one. and the ukrainians are fighting like it is ten to one. >> absolutely. we're also seeing mercenaries from chechnya and private

mercenaries as well joining the fight, which i know you've said in the past is a sign of weakness. all of that being said, the russians have formidable weapons. they have the hypersonic whistles. they have air power. they don't have air superiority. they have air power. they have very long-range missiles as well that they've been using on the outskirts of kyiv and other parts of ukraine. this is something very difficult for the ukrainians to defend against at this stage. >> it is. and i suspect we'll be seeing a boost in the ukrainian air defense capabilities because they're getting some systems from our british allies and possibly some older soviet built, but highly qualified systems from the polish nato allies. and maybe the ukrainians will chip away at that air superiority. there is no doubt you're right. the russians continue. they can continue to rain terror down on these cities. but they can't advance and take them. even though the killing will be

horrific, it is a stalemate. i'm really hopeful that within two weeks, hopefully less, we'll see some serious movement on the russian side at the ceasefire talks. it's serving no purpose now just wanton destruction and loss of life. >> let's hope so. thank you very much, robert english. it's always a pleasure talking to you. now what once was an argue cade where children played in pretend gunfights has now become a place for ukrainians to escape from real ones. many of them are fleeing the port city of mariupol as we've discussed, which has been under siege for weeks by russians. ivan watson has our story from dnipro. >> reporter: normally, this is an arcade player, where children come and play laser tag. instead, now that there is this awful war in ukraine, people have been using this as an improvised shelter. the owners have opened up their doors to ordinary ukrainians,

civilians who for the most part have been fleeing the port city of mariupol, which has been under russian siege for weeks now. and we've been talking to some of these displaced ukrainians who have described horrific conditions where they are hiding in basements, where there is no electricity, no running water, no heat. constant bombardment from warplanes, from artillery rockets, and even now there are now reports from russian ships in the black sea. what the owners here have done is they have provided a space for families that have endured the unspeakable to come here and get several days of rest and relative quiet, which is really a blessing. and you can see the children have really responded positively in this space that was quite honestly built for them in the

first place. the attacks and the horrors in mariupol, though, for the parents, it's really traumatizing. we've been talking to people who have left behind parents and grandparents who are still under russian bombardment. people who are now trying to figure out where to take their families left, if there are other safe places in this country. before russian invaded ukraine, mariupol had a population of more than 400,000 people. ivan watson, cnn, dnipro, ukraine. and still to come on cnn, nato leaders will meet in brussels this week for perhaps their most consequential gathering in decades. a preview of the historic event amid russia's war in ukraine is next. and despite calls for diplomacy in ukraine, china continues its business relationships with russia. after the break, why a chinese

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i'm hala gorani reporting live from lviv, ukraine. nato allies are meeting in brussels this week in what's being called an extraordinary summit to address the russian invasion of ukraine. the american president, joe biden, will be there where he will also meet with g7 and eu

leaders followed by a visit to poland to address the growing human rights crisis unfolding due to the war. cnn's arlette saenz has that story. >> reporter: president biden is set to embark on a high-stakes diplomatic endeavor this week as the u.s. and its allies continue to craft ways to punish russia for its attack against ukraine as well as offer additional assistance to ukraine as they defend themselves against this invasion. here in washington on monday, president biden will meet with business leaders as he outlines the u.s. response to russia's invasion. and then on wednesday, he will travel to europe, where he will hit the ground running on thursday with a day full of meetings. with an emergency summit with nato specifically focusing on russia's attack against ukraine. they will be discussing deterrents and defense measures, and it will give biden an opportunity to reaffirm the u.s. commitment to defending nato

allies. president biden will also attend a summit of the european council and meet simply with g7 leaders. much of this will amount to a western show of unity against russia, but the u.s. and its allies have continued and talked about ways that they can further punish russia as well as offer security assistance to ukraine amid this invasion. additionally on sunday, the u.s. confirmed the deaths of four u.s. marines who were killed in an osprey crash during a nato training exercise in norway. the marine corps released the names of those four marines. those include captain matthew tonkwicz, tom reynolds, gunnery sergeant james speedy of cambridge, ohio, and corporal jacob moore of kentucky. the deceased marines have been removed from the crash site and are in the process of being returned to the united states where they'll be reunited with their families in a dignified

transfer. this exercise was a long-standing, long-planned nato exercise, and nato said that it does not have specific ties to russia's attack against ukraine. arlette saenz, cnn, the white house. well, china's ambassador to the u.s. is rejecting rumors that beijing may be providing military assistance to russia, but says beijing is conducting business as usual was moscow. he told cbs' "face the nation" that the countries are still cooperating on economic, trade, financial, and energy matters despite russia's invasion and claims china is only sending humanitarian aid. >> there is a disinformation about china providing military assistance to russia. we reject that. what china is doing is send

food, medicine, sleeping bags, and baby formula. not weapons and ammunitions to any party. and we against the war, as i said. >> all right. cnn's steven jiang joins me now with more. no weapons, no armaments, we're basically sending baby formula and humanitarian assistance. is that what we're seeing on the ground, just a very surface humanitarian level of support or does it go deeper? >> hala, it's real interesting because in the past few days we have started noticing some subtle changes in officials' rhetoric about this war, even though they still refuse to call this a russian invasion. they have started to include ukraine's security concern as part of their consideration in their position and policy. and as you have just heard from the chinese ambassador, they have also started highlighting china's humanitarian assistance

to ukraine, even though it's still very small in scale. and the state media here, even though their coverage of the war still very much largely pro-russia has also started including some information from the ukrainian side and eve even sensors are allowing more voices to emerge on social media. all of this could be pragmatic how the war is going, but also they want to maintain some sort of moral high ground with their foreign minister insisting over the weekend that time there eventually prove china's position to be on the right side of history. however, chinese officials, including president xi jinping still pointing to nato's eastward expansion as the root cause of that conflict. that is not just parroting a crumbling talking point, but also a reflection of beijing's concern about building allianzs to encircle china. increasingly using the term the

endopacific version of nato, that's an issue that's been really bonding putin and xi jinping in the past few years. a lot of analysts say what china wants to see out of this war is a weakened u.s. and its alliances as well as a new international order more favorable to authoritarian governments. that's why putin losing power would be their ultimate nightmare. at this stage very few people see china pull back from their close ties with russia, despite repeated warnings from the u.s. hala? >> but at the same time, this is hurting china economically, and china has big business with western countries. so it is walking a tightrope. it's not as clear-cut as just wanting russia in its sphere of influence against a weakened nato, which would be its ultimate desire. but it can't weaken its business partner taos much. and it must really want an end to this war. is it likely to use its influence at all with moscow? >> well, at this stage, we're not seeing a lot of real signs

of them doing that because a lot of people say xi jinping could just pick up a call. but obviously we're not seeing a sign -- any signs of this. and also, of course, as we have been talking about this impossible balance they're trying to strike, including how to minimize chinese entities' exposure from the western sanctions, and that's something we have seen sudden movements on this front, including, example, even china just trying to back entity, asia investment bank halting russia-related projects, and then of course there are some signs of some other investments being suspended. but at this stage at least publicly, they're still very much putting on a brave face about their high-minded approach to peace instead of actually doing anything more concrete than what they have been seeing. hala? >> all right. well, we'll see how that develops. steven jiang in beijing, thanks very much. now african students were among those forced to flee when

russia invaded this country, but many african leaders have been hesitant to forcefully condemn the kremlin for its war. cnn's stephanie buceri explains why. >> reporter: in the three weeks since russia invaded ukraine, president putin's actions have been strongly condemned by several african nations. >> ghana remains deeply concerned about the bombardments and atrocities of ukraine. >> some states have been much more muted in their response to russia. when the u.n. general assembly voted on a resolution urging a ceasefire and withdrawal, 17 african countries abstained, including senegal, whose president is the current chair of the afghan union. >> there is also a strong strand of thought in african diplomacy that sees african states should

maintain the principle of noninterference. so they shouldn't get caught up in proxy wars between the east and the west as some states did get caught up in proxy wars during the cold war, for instance. >> reporter: nelson mandela once put it like this. it is a mistake to, quote, think that their enemies should be our enemies. south africa also abstained from the u.n. vote, and president cyril ramaphosa has since blamed nato for considering ukraine's membership into the military alliance which russia is against. >> the war could have been avoided if nato had heeded the warnings from amongst its own leaders and officials over the years. we are insisting, we are insisting that there should be dialogue. ♪ >> reporter: south africa has historical ties with the former ussr which supported its fight

against apartheid. former president jacob zuma seen here with putin in 2013 even recently said he believed the russian president was a man of peace who would take steps to make peace a reality. . there are many people in many parts of the world who would like to see other regions gaining strength and would like to see the end of western domination of the world order, putting it simply. and now of course no right-thinking person in africa or anywhere in the world looks at what is going on in ukraine now and thinks that is a good thing. >> reporter: in recent years, russia has established itself as one of africa's most valuable trading partners, becoming one of africa's major suppliers of military harbor with key lines of ethiopia and libya. given concerns, african leaders are likely to tread carefully in response to the war in ukraine. stephanie bucari, cnn, lags go.

in one positive development, if we can call any development positive in this war, about half of the staff that's been working at the chernobyl nuclear plant, basically since the war began, has been able to rotate out and return home. remember, we were telling him last week they were utterly exhausted. the international atomic energy agency said those employees had been working nonstop at the radioactive waste facilities for more than three weeks when russians seized the site. those workers have now been relieved by ukrainian staffers. the iaea is hopeful that the rest of the staff can rotate out soon as well. as russian troops get bogged down in ukraine, moscow is ratcheting up its propaganda campaign at home. we'll tell you about the messaging from the kremlin and why it's not working on everybody there. stay with us. the dove beauty bar is gentltle... it is moisturisingng. i bring the dove beauty bar home because it n not only cleans, it hydrates my skin.

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. welcome back. i'm hala gorani reporting live from lviv, ukraine. ukrainian leaders have refused russia's demands to surrender the besieged city of mariupol. moscow's deadline in fact passed a few hours ago, and bombardments on mariupol have made it hard to get civilians out or get aid in. ukraine says more than 7,000 people were able to escape on sunday, but many more remain

trapped, and civilian shelters are coming under attack, including an art school and a theater. meanwhile, fierce fighting is also raging around ukraine's capital, kyiv. on sunday, several explosions were reported near the city's center. you see one of them there. and the mayor of the city says at least one person was killed. officials say a shopping center also caught fire with flames reaching as high as the third and fourth floors. well, western leaders continue to coordinate on sanctions aimed at punishing russia. in the coming hours, the american president joe biden will hold a call with several european leaders to discuss their response, their continuing response it should be said. it comes ahead of biden's trip to europe to meet with nato allies later this week. meanwhile, ukraine's president says he is ready to negotiate with the russian president vladimir putin. volodymyr zelenskyy spoke exclusively with cnn on sunday. >> president biden has called

vladimir putin a war criminal. and yet you have called for negotiations with him. will it be hard? will it be painful for you to have to sit down with putin were he to agree and negotiate with him? >> i am ready for negotiations with him. i was ready over the last two years, and i think that -- i think that without negotiations, we cannot end this war. i think that all the people who think that this dialogue is shallow and that it is not going resolve anything, they just don't understand that this is very valuable. if there is just 1% chance for us to stop this war, i think that we need to take this

chance. we need to do that. >> zelenskyy there. the u.s. has confirmed reports that the russian military has used hypersonic missiles against ukraine, and the kremlin may be using the advanced weapons to send a message to the west. cnn's barbara starr has more from the pentagon. >> reporter: u.s. officials now confirming to cnn that the russians did fire so-called hypersonic missiles. these are air-launched. they travel five times the speed of sound. very tough to track, very tough to shoot down. if there is an ability to shoot them down at all. the russians using them against targets in ukraine. the u.s. not able to confirm to cnn what those targets were. now defense secretary lloyd austin refused to discuss that these kinds of missiles were actually used. but he had plenty to say about what it all means. >> i would not see it as a game-changer. i think, again, the reason that

he is resorting to using these types of weapons is because he's trying to reestablish some money. you kind of question why he would do this. is he running low on precision-guided munitions? does he have complete confidence in his ability -- the ability of his troops to reestablish momentum? but i don't see this in and of itself a game-changer. i cannot confirm or dispute whether or not he has used those weapons. >> sources are telling cnn that the u.s. was able to track the missiles in flight, but using these missiles is a message from putin to the united states. he knows that they are almost impossible to shoot down, that the u.s. has no defense against them, and that the u.s. military so far has been unable to develop its own hypersonic missiles. barbara starr, cnn, the pentagon. well, russia isn't just intensifying its battlefield

attacks, the kremlin is also ramping up the propaganda fight as the invasion in ukraine stalls for its forces. an offensive is taking place at home to cover up russia's brutality. but not everyone is buying it. cnn international diplomatic editor nic robertson has that story. >> reporter: as president putin's slaughter in ukraine stalls, his offensive at home to hide its brutality is ramping up, marking as enemies russians who don't buy the kremlin's propaganda. >> the russian people especially are able to distinguish true patriots from bastards and traitors and will spit them out like a gnat that accidentally flew into their mouths. >> reporter: what is coming out of the mouths of putin's state media problempagandist is the f throated support of killing civilians, falsely claiming that

ukraine started the war, that ukrainians are being used as human shields. putin kremlin cronies double down on the lie, blame the u.s. and europe for the civilian deaths. >> translator: the russian armed forces do not bomb cities. this is well-known to everyone. no matter how many videos are edited in nato, no matter how many clips and fake photos are thrown in. >> reporter: yet an indication how flimsy the kremlin may fear its fabrications are. putin held a rare rally, seemingly ceding to scotch concerns over mounting casualties and low morale among soldiers. >> translator: our boys are fighting in this operation shoulder to shoulder, shielding one another with their bodies on the battlefield. we haven't had this unity for a long time. >> reporter: for many russians, knowing fact from kremlin fiction is getting impossible. his heavy-handed riot police

routinely drag anti-war protesters off the streets. draconian new laws banned criticism of the war, max penalty 15 years in jail. access to facebook and twitter restricted. and since the war began, russia's few remaining independent media outlets have been shut down, including tv rain, whose viewership rocketed. news director and anchor ekater ekaterina fled irish. >> there are many russians who understand something terrible is going on who understand they need these alternative sources of information. >> reporter: not all dissent is stifled. news editor irina took her anti-protest "prime time" on the kremlin's most popular propaganda machine, channel 1, and was quickly convicted of order nicing about a public

information. >> i have been working on channel 1 and doing propaganda, and now i am very ashamed of it. it is a shame i helped lies come from the tv screens, a shame i helped zombieify the russian people. >> reporter: the real news, the news we all see of the lost and shattered lives of terrified civilians, of millions forced to flee bombed out homes is barely getting through to russians. give putin more time and he'll try to shut them off completely. nic robertson, cnn, london. that is all for now from lviv, ukraine. i'll be back at the top of the hour with more breaking news coverage. but coming up on cnn newsroom, making those in need feel welcome. how crane's neighbors are helping ukrainians fleeing the war. stay with us.

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show up for the first day of school, the last day at their current address. for the mornings when everything's wrong. for the manicure that makes everything right, for right now. show up, however you can, for the foster kids who need it most— at helpfosterchildren.com ukraine says another russian general was killed tuesday during fighting in southern ukraine near mariupol. while cnn cannot independently verify the claims, several senior russian officers have been killed so far. earlier, cnn's jake tapper as retired u.s. army general and former cia director david petraeus about the situation on the ground. >> it's not common. >> it's very, very uncommon. this isn't the first three

weeks, and these are quite senior generals. the bottom line is that their command and control has broken down. their communications have been jammed by the ukrainians. their secure coms didn't work. they had to go to secure channel that's jammable. they use cell phones. the ukrainians blocked the prefix for russia. so that didn't work. and then they took down 3g. they're literally stealing cell phones from ukrainian citizens to communicate among each other. the column gets stopped. an impatient general is sitting back there in his armored vehicle. he goes forward because there is no initiative. there is no noncommissioned officer corps. there is no sense of initiative at junior levels. they wait to be told what to do. gets up there, and the ukrainians have very, very good snipers, and they've been picking them off left and right. >> now on sunday, we also learned that a senior russian naval officer was killed in the fighting in mariupol. that's according to social media posts by two senior russian

officials. now ukraine's neighbors are doing their best to help the flood of refugees crossing their borders. in romania, emergency workers are welcoming them with hot meals and toys for the kids. most ukrainians are fleeing to poland, romania, moldova, hungary and slovakia. the u.n. says about 10 million ukrainians have been forced to leave their homes, and that includes, of course, more than 3.3 million who have actually had to leave ukraine all together as refugees. now a group of taxi drivers in spain wanted to do something to help the refugees who were thousands of miles away in ukraine, so they organized a convoy that crossed the continent, bringing back with them 130 ukrainian refugees. >> reporter: horns blaring, people cheering, it's a hero's welcome for these bleary-eyed taxi drivers and their war weary passengers. the end of the line for this

convoy are about 30 taxis in a 40-hour round trip that covered more than 3,000 miles from madrid to poland and back. but it's also the beginning of a new chapter for the roughly 130 refugees from ukraine arriving in the caravan. some had tears in their eyes and shouted words of gratitude as they entered a shelter in madrid. even the drivers themselves say they were surprised by the reception. as one driver says, "we are all very moved because of the wake we have. we didn't expect it." he also says "we are very tired. we have been driving nonstop." the convoy began as an idea by a group of taxi drivers waiting outside the madrid airport for customers on how they could help the people fleeing ukraine. taxi drivers raised about $50,000 for the trip to cover

fuel costs and volunteered their time to bring supplies to poland and return with as many refugees as they could. the convoy's organizers say they are proud to bring so many people to spain, but disappointed there are still so many people who need help. organizers say the ukrainian embassy in madrid helped to select the refugees for the convoy, and the drivers say they hope to do another run soon. for many of them, it's a ride they won't forget. one man says "while on the road, a commercial plane passed overhead and a frightened child looked at the sky and through himself on the ground with his hands on his head." when it came for the final drop-off, there were plenty of hugs and thanks for the lift out of a place of hardship, for the lift in spirits, and the hopefully new roads ahead for these passengers in need.

okay. coming up here for us on "cnn newsroom," china is seeing some of its highest covid case numbers since the beginning of the pandemic. but will its zero covid policy contain the outbreak? we take a closer look. that's just ahead. i earn 3% cash back at drugstores with chase freedom unlimited. so i got cards for birthdays, holidays, graduations, i'm covered for everythi. thank you for driving me to the drugstore. earn big time with chase freedom unlimited with no nual fee. how do you cashback? che. make more of what's yours.

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so the covid-19 vaccine could some day become an annual shot. that's according to to the former head of the u.s. food and drug administration. who is also a pfizer board member. he compares it with the flu vaccine. which is given once a year. in the fall and winter in the united states. when the flu risk is at its highest. >> i think this is really a six month vaccine. in term of providing meaningful protection against symptomatic disease. and infection. this is likely to become an annual vaccine for the majority of americans. for those who are vulnerable. you should think about getting a shot every six months while we're in the high envirm. shots are authorized for that use. there is authorization right now for a fourth booster. >> now just over an hour ago,

hong kong chief executive announced some of the cities covid-19 restrictions would be lifted. notably a ban on flights from nine countries. including u.s. and uk. that starts april 1. hong kong enacted a covid zero policy similar to mainland china in effort to slow the rising cases. and that's resulted in business closures and restrictions on movement. the city has been battered by the virus. the bulk of the nearly 6,000 deaths now coming in just the last few weeks. china also reported more than 4,300 new covid cases sunday. the country has been battling an up tick in cases recently. and putting china's zero covid policy to the test. cnn explains. >> reporter: china battling its biggest surge in covid cases since the original out break in wuhan. universities students seen in long lines for mandatory covid test. at a trade fair, thousands of

people seen trying to escape a snap lock down. some hopping fences. after just a single positive case was found among the crowd. two years into the pandemic, china is still striving to maintain a zero covid policy. to do so, authorities trace positive cases using big data and surveillance. any sort of privacy, often sacrificed for health safety. take this recent case in beijing, cnn spoke with this woman. seen here stepping onto her office elevator. cnn is masking the identity of the everyone around her. building management following government guidance released the surveillance footage unedited. because they say there was a positive case on the elevator at the same time. to track down everyone, they circulated the images. even those inside the elevator hours before and after were like her, considered close contacts. she told us all of them now quarantined for 21 days.

>> how can it be me? i they ever thought it could happen to me. >> she spoke with us from her quarantined hotel. she says once the positive case was confirmed to have been in the elevator. they were immediately locked down at work. she's slept on her office desk for the night. even after testing negative. she was transferred to the government isolation facility. >> i don't understand it. i really don't. i feel my time is wasted. >> since confirming the first omicron case in mid-december. the average new daily case count surged from double digits to 2,000. now with more than 17,000 act i have cases, the virus spread to 17 regions. for beijing, one case is one too many. especially chinese president xi jinping seeks an unprecedented third term.

needs to show strategy. while extreme is highly effective. it's dealt repeated blows to the economy. the most recent rise in infection, shutting down much of the northeast china province. industrial hub. along with tech factories. where apple supplier had to briefly halt production. china bustling financial hub, shanghai, also increasingly lock down impacting millions. including us. >> just got the community covid test. they have the tents set up for everyone, neighborhood by neighbor neighborhood. to get tested and await the results. >> this is happening across communities in china. chinese social media some question how long all this will last. when will china change its policy? many were finding creative ways to deal with the new reality. still managing to squeeze in haircut in lock down. and even the elevator close contact expressing her ultimate understanding of the measures. >> because covid is life

threatening. if my family gets infected because of the government's lack of covid control measures, i wouldn't be able to accept it. >> despite the mostly vaccinated population, chinese officials relying on the shared fear of the virus locking down to justify and enforce the zero covid policy. the rest of the world is opening up. >> that does it for us this hour. we continue after a quick break with our breaking news coverage from ukraine. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

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