Chinese city of Xian sees Covid cases rise as it enters third day of lockdown

[superadmin]

The Chinese city of Xian has reported an increase in daily Covid-19 infections and local companies have curtailed activity as the country’s latest hotspot entered its third day of lockdown.

Xian, home to 13 million people, detected 75 domestically transmitted cases with confirmed symptoms on Friday, its highest daily count of the year and reversing the previous day’s decline, official data showed on Saturday.

China as a whole reported 140 new confirmed coronavirus cases for Friday, an increase of 62% from 87 cases the day before, its health authority said on Saturday. Of the new infections, 87 were locally transmitted, compared with 55 a day earlier.

Most of the new local cases were in the north-western province of Shaanxi, where Xian is the main city.

Xian’s locally transmitted symptomatic cases, at 330 for the period between 9 December and 24 December, are few compared with outbreaks in many other countries, but the city has imposed heavy-handed measures in line with Beijing’s policy to contain local transmission as quickly as possible.

Residents are banned from leaving the city, home to the world-famous Terracotta Army archaeological find, without clearance from employers or local authorities and households can send only one person to shop for necessities every two days. Other family members may not leave home unless they have essential jobs or urgent matters approved by employers or communities.

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