China's ultra-strict COVID-19 curbs are taking a toll on businesses and jobseekers as Beijing stresses again and again the need to maintain its zero-tolerance approach to the virus, to save lives, if not livelihoods. Since 2020, China has reported 5,226 COVID-19 fatalities among its population of 1.4 billion. In contrast, more than 1 million people have died of the disease in the United States. Keeping a lid on China's COVID-19 death toll has come at a cost to its economy.