China on Wednesday ordered the lockdown of as many as 13 million people in neighborhoods and workplaces in the northern city of Xi’an following a spike in coronavirus cases.
State media reported that city officials ordered all residents to stay home unless they had a pressing reason to go out and suspended all transport to and from the city apart from special cases.
The order was to take effect at midnight and last indefinitely.
BIDEN’S NEW COVID PLAN EXPOSES A RED STATE-BLUE STATE DIVIDE
In this photo released by China’s Xinhua News Agency, people register for tests at a COVID-19 testing site in Xi’an in northwestern China’s Shaanxi Province, Tuesday, Dec. 21, 2021. (Shao Rui/Xinhua via AP)
One person from each household will be permitted out every two days to buy household necessities, the order said.
CHINA IMPOSES SANCTIONS ON US OFFICIALS OVER XINJIANG
Xi’an on Wednesday reported 52 new locally transmitted cases of the coronavirus over the previous 24 hours.
China has adopted strict pandemic control measures under its zero-transmission program, leading to frequent lockdowns, universal masking and mass testing.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
Those measures have been stepped up in recent days ahead of the start of the Beijing Winter Olympic Games on Feb. 4.
The Xi’an restrictions are some of the harshest since China in 2020 imposed a strict lockdown on more than 11 million people in and around the central city of Wuhan after COVID-19 was first detected there in late 2019.
