The Chinese city of Xi'an, where 13 million inhabitants are confined, announced Sunday a "
total
"
disinfection
and tightened the restrictions, at a time when China has recorded a record number of Covid-19 contaminations for 21 months.
The Asian country has been applying a “
zero Covid
”
strategy since last year,
which consists of doing everything to limit the occurrence of new cases as much as possible.
Read alsoChina opens an ultramodern quarantine center to guard against Covid-19
The authorities are redoubling their vigilance to avoid any major outbreak before the Beijing Winter Olympics (February 4-20, 2022).
But sporadic outbreaks occur regularly in recent months.
As for example in Xi'an, known worldwide for its army buried in terracotta and confined since Thursday.
The metropolis reported 155 new Covid patients on Sunday, bringing the total to nearly 500 over the past few weeks.
"
In the coming days, a number of cases are still likely to be detected
," Xi'an official He Wenquan warned before the press, calling on the population not to "
panic
".
Some 29,000 people have been placed in solitary confinement in specific hotels, the official said.
To curb the epidemic, residents of Xi'an have already been tested several times, according to the authorities.
And a "
total
"
disinfection
was to begin Sunday evening.
Restrictions have also been tightened for residents.
Now, each household in Xi'an can only send one of its members once every three days to buy basic necessities.
The previous authorization was for two days.
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China reported 206 new Covid-19 infections on its soil on Sunday.
This is the highest number of contaminations over a day since March 2020.