China has implemented some of the strictest lockdown measures in the world since Covid emerged in Wuhan in late 2019.
Now, as the Omicron variant spreads, even stricter measures have been introduced in Xi’an.
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Residents can no longer leave the city without explicit permission from their employer or local health authorities.
Anyone caught going for the drive could face ten days in police detention, or a (£58.37) yuan fine.
Residents were told they can only leave their homes to get tested or for a medical emergency, for those in less risky areas defined by the local government, are permitted to buy supplies if they return a negative test.
China will host the Winter Olympics in February but have not revealed how many Omicron cases there are in Xi’an.
Xi’an, with a population of 13 million, has started a massive disinfection campaign across the city. Roads and buildings are being sprayed with pathogen-killing solutions.
However, Dongyan Jin, a virologist at the University of Hong Kong, said the mass disinfection of outdoor air and surfaces seemed unnecessary given the low risk of people catching Covid-19 from outdoor surfaces or the air with so few people outside.
‘This is shooting mosquitoes with a cannon,’ said Jin, though he believes disinfection of indoor surfaces, especially in places visited by infected people, was necessary.
People have posted on the Chinese social media website, Weibo, one person said: ‘I don’t want to hear any more about how everything is fine. So what if supplies are so abundant – they’re useless if you don’t actually give them to people.’
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