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China’s zero-Covid policy: Xian takes stock as 3rd lockdown week looms
- National Games host city was mostly able to keep the coronavirus at bay until spiralling cases in December marked the worst outbreak since Wuhan in 2020
- Strict implementation of zero-Covid rules has its own challenges, city finds, from food shortages and health app outages, to fatal health care lapses
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The only way Amelia Wang has been able to leave her college dormitory in nearly three weeks is by volunteering at the Covid-19 testing centre on campus.
The final-year undergraduate student, like everyone else in Xian, was placed under lockdown on December 23 as the city rushed to contain a growing coronavirus outbreak.
Wang, 23, was astonished to learn about the outbreak in the northwestern city of 13 million.
“Xian did such a good job of hosting the National Games back in September. Since then, there have just been sporadic local cases and none developed into a serious outbreak like this time,” she said. “How could things get so bad?”
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Ancient city of Xian takes extensive measures to protect China’s National Games from Covid-19
Ancient city of Xian takes extensive measures to protect China’s National Games from Covid-19
According to National Health Commission statistics, more than 1,900 Xian residents have been confirmed infected since early December when cases began to emerge – making it China’s worst outbreak since the coronavirus was first detected in the central city of Wuhan two years ago.
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