|
 Xian reported 175 symptomatic cases for Monday, up from the previous
day's 150. No Omicron infections have been announced yet from the
more than 800 confirmed cases in Xian since Dec. 9.
Case numbers in Xian are small compared with many clusters in other
countries, but Chinese officials have imposed tough curbs on travel
within the city and on leaving it, in line with national guidelines
to immediately contain any COVID-19 outbreak.
Some residents in Xian were anxious to know when they could next
stock up on daily necessities such as vegetables, as officials had
barred people from going out to shop during a new round of mass
testing that started on Monday.
Officials had said shopping could resume for people in less risky
areas once test results came back negative, but did not say exactly
when the suspension would be lifted. Prior to the restriction, each
household had been allowed to send only one person out to shop for
essentials every two days.
"It feels like a long time," said a 22-year-old resident surnamed
Jin.
"The fact that I haven't yet been told when I could shop again makes
me a bit anxious," Jin, who ran out of fresh greens by Tuesday and
couldn't make orders online without waiting for nearly a week before
delivery, told Reuters.
Since last week, Xian residents have not been allowed to leave the
city without clearance from their employer or community authorities.
Officials have also banned non-essential vehicles.
[to top of second column] |
 Zhang Boli, who advised the
Chinese government in formulating early COVID-19
response and treatment strategies, told state
media earlier this month that Xian may contain
the outbreak by around mid-January.
Nationwide, mainland China detected 182 local
symptomatic cases for Monday, according to a
statement by the National Health Commission,
compared with 162 a day earlier.
That was the highest daily count since the official daily bulletin
started classifying asymptomatic cases separately at the end of
March last year.
China has disclosed only a handful of Omicron infections, mostly
among international travellers and in the south.
A national health official said earlier this month that local
transmission caused by imported Omicron infection was found in the
southern city of Guangzhou, without disclosing how many cases were
found.
An infecious disease doctor in the eastern province of Zhejiang said
on Tuesday at a government-organized news briefing that Omicron
cases arriving from overseas were detected in the province a week
ago, without disclosing the number of infections.
(Reporting by Roxanne Liu, Ryan Woo and Gabriel Crossley; Editing by
Himani Sarkar, Michael Perry and Alex Richardson)
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