BEIJING (AP) — The Chinese city of Xi’an has been gradually easing coronavirus restrictions after three weeks of lockdown as authorities try to quell an outbreak of the virus before the Olympics start.
Broadcaster CCTV reported on Sunday that some counties and development zones in Xi’an have started to resume production.
Officials told a press conference that sanitary measures have been partially or totally lifted in some communities considered low risk, which allowed citizens to leave their homes to buy basic goods.
Xi’an imposed a general stay-at-home order on December 22, following an outbreak of the virus blamed on the contagious delta variant. Xi’an, a city of 13 million people and home to the famous Terracotta statues, has reported more than 2,000 cases of the virus since December.
Xi’an is about 1,000 kilometers (600 miles) southwest of Beijing.
China has implemented a “zero COVID” policy to quell outbreaks of the delta and omicron variants. Several cities in the southern Guangdong province, as well as Beijing, have reported an increase in cases of the contagious omicron variant in recent days.
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