China shut down the western city of Xi’an on Thursday, December 23, to prevent the further spread of the COVID outbreak. This is China’s biggest such move ever since the pandemic began in Wuhan.
This clearly highlights how the country’s zero-tolerance policy hasn’t permitted it to move on since the deadly virus emerged nearly two years ago.
Residents to remain at homes
The 13 million inhabitants of Xi’an city were directed to stay in their homes and to appoint one person to go out every other day for necessities. There’s a ban on Non-essential travel out of the city.
This came after the second round of mass testing identified 127 COVID infections scattered across 14 districts, making containment of the virus “grave and complicated,” the official Xinhua News Agency reported.
Preparation for Winter Olympic Games stalled
The increasing number of COVID cases comes at a time when China faces increased holiday travel. Further, the preparation for the winter Olympic Games which will feature an influx of athletes and their entourages in February will also be hampered by this COVID spread.
Majority infected with delta variant
The vast majority of the infections stem from the delta variant, which spread through most of the world in the summer and fall. The country is girding for the more infectious omicron strain, which has been shown to evade immunity from vaccination or previous infection.