The long confinement of the city of Xi'an (northern China) was lifted on Monday January 24, announced the authorities, who also reported 72 cases of Covid among participants in the Beijing Olympics.
The 13 million inhabitants of the ancient imperial capital had been confined to their homes on December 22 after the discovery of an outbreak which infected a total of more than 2,100 people.
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This month-long confinement is the longest and most extensive imposed in China since the quarantine of the metropolis of Wuhan, the first epicenter of the pandemic, from January to April 2020. The number of contaminations remains minimal in China compared to the rest of the world, but the authorities react to the slightest resurgence of the epidemic with radical measures, which are reinforced with the approach of the Beijing Olympics (4 to 20 February).
Reopening of shops and transport
Finally, Xi'an began to lift its restrictions last week as the number of infections dropped.
Now, shops have been able to reopen as well as public transport, the town hall announced on Monday.
Only one district of the city is still subject to restrictions and links with the rest of the country have been restored.
The management of the lockdown in the city famous for the First Emperor's underground army has come under criticism, with locals complaining of a lack of supplies.
An eight-month-pregnant woman lost her baby because she could not be admitted to a hospital.
It is now Beijing which has the highest number of daily contaminations, ten days before the start of the Olympic Games: the capital reported six new cases on Monday, out of a national total of 18, to which are added 39 imported cases .
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In order to limit the risk of contamination, athletes and other participants in the Winter Games must remain inside a sanitary bubble.
A total of 72 participants have tested positive for coronavirus since arriving in China, organizers said on Sunday.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC), however, announced on Monday a relaxation of the rules concerning screening tests, with an increase in the threshold at which a person is considered positive.
