Residents take nucleic acid tests in Xi'an, Shaanxi Province on December 19, 2021. Photo: VCG

Xi'an, the capital city of Northwest China's Shaanxi Province,  has escalated its management and control measures to contain the spread of latest flare-up of COVID-19 as community transmission has occurred and spillover cases have been found in five other cities. 

Zhang Fenghu, a deputy director of the leading group on epidemic prevention and control in Xi'an, said the city is facing a complicated and severe situation as positive cases were found outside the lockdown areas during the citywide nucleic acid testing conducted on Monday and Tuesday. 

In order to contain the spread of the epidemic, all the communities and villages in the city will be locked down and start quarantine from Thursday. Only one family member of each household is allowed to go shopping every other day and the rest can only go out with certificates offered by their companies or communities. 

A total of 3,574 schools in Xi'an have suspended in-person instruction as of Wednesday with 2.09 million students and faculty turning to online education. 

The city, with a population of 13 million, also strengthened traffic control and banned local residents from leaving the city unless necessary. Long-distance passenger transportation has been suspended and taxis and online car-hailing services are not allowed to operate in medium- and high-risk areas or operate outside the city. 

Apart from the need for epidemic prevention and necessities for livelihood, all kinds of activities and gatherings have been suspended. Companies and social organizations are encouraged to work flexibly or work from home to decrease personnel flow. 

The city reported 52 new local infections on Tuesday, making the total number of local infections in the city to 143. The spillover cases from Xi'an have spread to five cities. 

The latest flare-up in Xi 'an was caused by a Delta variant according to genetic sequencing. 

Experts said that there are secret transmissions in Xi 'an and there has been a certain scale of community transmission and spillover cases.

At present, there is one high-risk area and 40 medium-risk areas in Xi'an, with personnel in these areas strictly controlled. 

Global Times