China’s Xian locks down its million residents as COVID-19 cases rise

The Chinese city of Xian has imposed tight curbs on outbound travel and commuting within the city, putting its 13 million residents in a lockdown as a new COVID-19 outbreak sees community cases tick higher.

The daily count of domestically transmitted COVID-19 infections with confirmed symptoms in Xian has increased for six consecutive days since December 17, Reuters reported.

That brings the total number of local cases to more than 200 between 9 and 22 December, smaller than many outbreaks outside of China. No infection caused by the Omicron variant has been detected in Xian.

Consistent with Beijing’s stance that no flare-up can be allowed to spread, Xian has made it difficult for residents to leave.

Starting Thursday, only one person in each Xian household can go out for necessary shopping every two days, while other family members must stay home unless they have essential jobs.

All domestic flights to and from Xian previously scheduled for Thursday have been cancelled, according to data provided by Variflight. Outbound flights from Xian for Friday are still available, online travel booking apps show.

The city has run at least two rounds of mass testing.

A few other local regions, such as Sichuan province and Chongqing city, demanded people who had recently visited Xian to be quarantined for up to 14 days before they could travel freely.

There were no new deaths, leaving the national death toll at 4,636.

Mainland China had 100,644 confirmed cases as of December 22, including both local ones and those found among international travelers.