Covid China today, new cases in the north, millions in lockdown

Shops closed and a ban on leaving homes for hundreds of thousands of people in Yan’an, about 300 kilometers from Xi’an, the Chinese city with 13 million inhabitants in lockdown since last week to contain coronavirus infections. The Guardian reports new provisions as the situation worries the Asian giant just over a month before the start of the Beijing Winter Olympics. The latest bulletin of the National Health Commission, reported by the Xinhua agency, reports 182 new cases of local transmission of Covid-19 – 180 of which in the northern province of Shaanxi where Xi’an and Yan’an are found – 27 cases’ imported ‘and 21 related to asymptomatic patients. Yesterday, writes the Global Times, there were 175 confirmed cases in Xi’an, including a newborn just 38 days old. For the authorities it is the most worrying figure since 9 December. The Guardian underlines that the data on infections in China, the cases of local transmission plus the ‘imported’ ones (209), is the highest since March last year. The fifth cycle of mass tests has started in Xi’an, reports the CNN, while the Global Times underlines that since the beginning of the month the city has reported 810 confirmed cases of coronavirus. The measures taken by the authorities, CNN points out, have rarely been seen since the first outbreak reported in Wuhan. Since yesterday in Xi’an, restrictions have been further tightened and all inhabitants are asked to stay at home, with the sole exception of mass tests, while previously one component per household could go out every two days for shopping. And on Weibo there are those who report being short of stocks. “Can someone save me? – says a message reported by CNN – I’m going to starve at home”. Since the start of the pandemic, China, with a population of over 1.4 billion people, has reported 101,486 confirmed cases of coronavirus with 4,636 deaths.