The historic city of Xi'an, home to 13 million people in Northwest China's Shaanxi Province, will enter a seven-day close-off management due to a cluster of COVID-19 infections at the Zhaohui Renewable Resources Trading Market, Shaanxi's largest renewable resources trading market.

For seven days starting on Wednesday, July 6, Xi'an will suspend on-site dining at restaurants and all group gatherings, including religious activities. Entertainment, cultural and sports venues will close for a week, including internet cafes, KTVs, bars, chess rooms, cinemas, gyms, libraries and museums.

Kindergartens, primary and middle schools will start the summer vacation ahead of schedule. People with a green health code can work from offices.

According to the local health commission, Xi'an has reported a total of 18 local COVID-19 cases from Saturday to Monday, three of which were detected in community screening.

The official of the local disease control center said that most of the cases were waste recycling workers at the Zhaohui market. Many of them went to multiple restaurants, supermarkets, residential compounds, trading markets and highway rest areas.

Genetic sequencing results showed that all cases were infected with the Omicron subvariant BA.5.2 which the official said came from outside China, although the source is not clear.