China's Xian City Lockdown Week: COVID-19 Cases Close To 1,000, No Omicron Variant Reports Yet

JAKARTA - The lockdown of 13 million people in Xian City, China entered its seventh day on Wednesday, with many unable to leave their residential complexes, depending on the delivery of necessities as new COVID-19 infections persist.

Xian reported 151 domestically transmitted infections with confirmed symptoms on Tuesday, or nearly all of the 152 cases nationwide, bringing the total number of local Xian cases to nearly 1,000 over the December 9-28 period. So far, no cases of the Omicron variant have been announced in the city.

Although the outbreak in Xian is smaller than the outbreak in many places around the world, officials have imposed strict restrictions on travel in and out of the city from December 23, in line with Beijing's efforts to contain the outbreak quickly.

People in the city were not allowed to leave Xian without permission from their superiors or community authorities.

A 32-year-old mechanic went to Xian on a business trip and had planned to return last week, having to stay longer because local officials refused to provide him with permits to leave the city.

That meant he missed his wife's birthday and might be forced to spend the New Year in Xian.

"I just want to go home", he told Reuters on condition of anonymity, as quoted December 29.

Since Monday, the Xian Government has suspended granting permits to people who wish to leave their homes to buy necessities, as epidemic control measures ramp up.

The city said direct shopping could resume for people in less at-risk areas after mass testing returned negative results, without saying exactly when the stay-at-home order would be lifted.

The move sparked complaints on social media from some residents about uncertain access to fresh produce.

Several county-level governments in Xian have started to arrange for the delivery of groceries to people's homes, or set up temporary booths in large housing complexes selling fresh produce, the city government said on Wednesday.

To note, there were no new COVID deaths in mainland China for Tuesday, bringing the death toll at 4,636.

Mainland China had 101,683 confirmed symptomatic cases as of Tuesday, including domestic cases and infections brought in from overseas.