Since December 23, Xian, the capital of Shaanxi province with 13 million inhabitants and home of the terracotta warriors, has been locked down after a Covid-19 outbreak. The number of cases in Shaanxi province has increased to more than 1,700 on January 3, insignificant compared to Western countries, but alarming for China, which is still pursuing a zero-Covid strategy. The number of cases in Xian reached 1,663.
The infections are of the Delta strain, not Omicron. Tighter, stricter and more accurate policies and measures should soon be taken to help curb the spread of the coronavirus, said Liu Guozhong, Shaanxi Communist Party Secretary “Xian is the decisive destination in the fight against the pandemic and only when the outbreak in Xian has been put under control can we fundamentally reverse the passive situation in the entire province,” Liu stressed. “Other cities should support Xian’s fight against the pandemic when the situation in their cities have been brought under control,” Liu said at a work conference. Yang Lianchang, Deputy Director of the Shaanxi Provincial Health Commission, said the epidemic situation in Xian and Shaanxi province is still in a critical period, as there were new cases detected in local communities, and the risk of community spread still exists. Several city-wide nucleic acid tests have been conducted. On an inspection tour in Xian, Vice Premier Sun Chunlan urged relevant departments to introduce more resolute and decisive measures to quickly contain the spread of the coronavirus in Xian.
Xian is the third Chinese city with a population of over 10 million to impose a Covid-19 lockdown, following Wuhan in early 2020 and Shijiazhuang in Hebei Province early last year. Xian Xianyang International Airport cancelled all domestic flights. Trains to multiple cities were also suspended. During the lockdown, each household was initially allowed to send one person every two days to go grocery shopping, but this policy was revoked until further notice. Free food packages were being distributed door-to-door. People, except those working in epidemic prevention and control and vital industries, should carry certificates issued by their communities if they have to go outside. Bus lines in the city have been suspended, and taxis and online ride-hailing vehicles have been banned from medium- and high-risk areas and from operating outside urban areas. A total of 3,574 schools in Xian have been closed, affecting around 1.78 million students. Those who violate Covid-19 policies will be punished with a maximum of 10 days in detention and a fine of CNY500.
The outbreak in Xian spilled over into six other cities, including Beijing, where one case related to the Xian outbreak was reported. Beijing announced the limiting of family gatherings to 10 people, and strict controls on national conferences and training events. The Beijing government called on residents to spend New Year's Day and the Spring Festival in Beijing. Anyone returning to Beijing is required to present a negative nucleic acid test issued within 48 hours and a green health code.
Foreign high-tech manufacturers have seen only a limited impact on their operations in Xian. Samsung's two large factories in Xian have not been affected by the epidemic control with the implementation of a closed-loop management. The two factories manufacture 3D NAND high-end products, accounting for 42.3% of the company's flash memory chip (NAND) production capacity and 15.3% of the world's. In addition to being Samsung's NAND Flash production center, Xian is also a memory packaging and testing base for U.S.-based chip producer Micron, where the actual packaging and testing have not been affected.
The Beijing organizing committee for the 2022 Winter Olympic Games said that a “certain number” of positive Covid-19 cases will be highly possible during the Games, as a large number of people from different countries and regions will come to China. But Chinese medical experts said it is “unlikely” there will be large-scale outbreaks during the Games under the closed-loop management system, and other effective and strict anti-epidemic measures. Not all positive cases from the Games will be sent to designated hospitals for quarantine and treatment, as is now the case in China. Asymptomatic cases will be sent to special quarantine facilities, which the Organizing Committee has set up in all three Games areas. Those who have shown symptoms will be sent to Beijing Ditan Hospital or Zhangjiakou First People's Hospital. Minimizing the spread of infection from within the closed loop to the city is the bottom line of the prevention and control work, said officials at a press conference. All arrivals should follow the closed-loop management policy. They can use special buses to travel to and from the Games' sites, venues and workplaces, but they are banned from crossing the closed-loop. The event organizers will not sell tickets to overseas audiences in order to prevent the possible spread of Covid-19 and ensure the safety of all participants. A total of 1.274 billion Chinese are fully of vaccinated, accounting for 85.64% of the population, which means the country is approaching herd immunity.
This overview is based on reports by the China Daily, Global Times and Shanghai Daily.
