China on March 13 placed two more cities under lockdown, including its southern business center of Shenzhen, amid a fresh spike of COVID-19 cases across the country fueled by the fast-spreading Omicron variant. The new restrictions came after the country’s leader Xi Jinping and health experts signaled the communist regime might switch to a softer COVID-19 response model. The Chinese regime currently has a so-called “dynamic-zero” policy that attempts to bring outbreaks under control as soon as possible through measures including mass testing, digital surveillance, mandatory isolation, and targeted lockdowns. Critics say such harsh measures hurt the economy and send ripples through global supply chains. Despite stringent control efforts, domestic infections continue to surge in recent days. China reported 1,807 confirmed local infections on Sunday, more than triple the 476 the previous day. The National Health Commission also announced 1,315 asymptomatic local cases, which the country didn’t classify as confirmed …