China's Xi'an city enters lockdown in bid to curb virus outbreak

BEIJING • China locked down the north-western city of Xi'an yes-terday to stamp out a persistent outbreak, its biggest such move since the coronavirus was first detected in Wuhan, central China, two years ago.

The daily count of domestically transmitted infections in Shaanxi's provincial capital, famed for its terracotta warriors buried with China's first emperor, has increased for six straight days since Dec 17.

That takes the tally of local cases to more than 200 over the period from Dec 9 to Wednesday.

No Omicron infection has yet been found in Xi'an, a city of 13 million residents.

While the local authorities have in the past used targeted lockdowns to slow outbreaks in places in China, no major city has been put under mass restrictions since Hubei's provincial capital Wuhan - with a population of 11 million - early last year.

The Chinese authorities are scrambling to maintain their zero-case strategy six weeks ahead of the Winter Olympics in Beijing.

Residents in Xi'an who want to leave must test negative before departure and get clearance from employers or community-level authorities.

The city has suspended long-distance bus services and banned out-of-town trips by taxis and cars hired on ride-hailing platforms, posting police at highway exits to dissuade trips that the authorities consider unnecessary.

All domestic flights with Xi'an scheduled for yesterday were cancelled, data from flight data services firm Variflight showed, though outbound flights for today are still available, according to online travel booking apps.

From yesterday, each household may send only one person to shop for necessities every two days, while others may not leave unless they have essential jobs.

Video images live-streamed by traffic police on social media showed that some stretches of highways in Xi'an were nearly deserted.

The city has launched multiple rounds of mass testing.

One student at a university based in the city said she queued outdoors for about an hour while it snowed to give a sample for a Covid-19 test.

Organisers of the Winter Olympics said yesterday that they expect a certain number of Covid-19 cases in China due to foreigners arriving for the Games, and strongly urged participants to get vaccination boosters due to the spread of the Omicron variant.

The Games, set to run from Feb 4 to 20, will take place with all athletes and related personnel and staff in a "closed loop" to contain the spread of the virus in China.

REUTERS, BLOOMBERG