On Monday, China recorded the country’s highest daily number of symptomatic corona cases since the end of March 2020. With 162 new infections, the country, which has long been hit hard by new outbreaks, has seen an increase in recent days.
Of the 162 newly infected, 150 of the cases are registered in the city of Xi’an in northern China, despite the fact that they last week introduced a curfew in the city which houses 13 million inhabitants. There should be no suspicion that it is the omikron variant that has been detected among the 162 infected, but the city has nevertheless taken several measures to curb the infection.
Mandatory test days have been introduced and hundreds of health workers were deployed to detect new viral infections, writes The Guardian. The same newspaper writes that the city has also launched a disinfection campaign where employees spray pathogenic agents on surfaces, roads and buildings in the city.
GRIP: Health personnel disinfect bags of vegetables distributed to Xi’an residents. Photo: CHINE NOUVELLE / SIPA / Shutterstock
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45,000 volunteers
In addition, around 3,000 test stations have been set up for the residents to get tested, and more than 45,000 medical volunteers have said they are willing to contribute to curbing the spread of infection in the city. After the city introduced strict rules, it was also only allowed for one in each household to leave the home to buy the most necessary.
According to The Guardian, Chinese media have reported on health personnel suffering from swollen hands after performing hundreds of tests in the cold in Xi’an.
Zhang Yi, director of the Department of Infectious Disease Prevention and Control at the city’s institute, said in a statement that the main cause of the increased infection was several cases that were detected by mandatory testing.
The authorities have now deployed security personnel for every 10th resident in 283 closed areas in the city that offer “door-to-door” assistance.
Medical expert Zhang Boli said in a statement on Sunday that he saw it as very likely that it was possible that the outbreak could be under control at the end of January.
