Global Times reported that the 13-million-person city of Xi'an in the Northwest Ship province of China has detected more than 140 cases of community infection in the past two weeks. Tay An also closed 3,574 schools and organized online classes. Major indoor entertainment venues have been suspended and company staff have been advised to work at home.
These strict measures were taken after the city-wide nucleic acid testing program began on December 19, in which 42 cases were detected on December 20 and 52 cases on December 21. So far, the outbreak has affected five other cities - Xiangyang and Tianjin in Shandongxi, Zhuokou in Henan Province, Central China, Dong Quan in Guangdong Province, South China and the capital Beijing.
The Tay An government announced on the evening of December 22 that it had detected 127 cases positive in the second citywide nucleic acid test.
In the context of the increasing number of new cases and rapidly spreading in the community, Tay An is facing a big challenge in terms of its management ability compared to other cities that have recently struggled to cope with the COVID-19 outbreak.
"Chaution" is the word used by many locals to describe the past two days. The health code system was faulty almost all day on December 20, so people could not take public transport, go to work or even return home, because these activities required scanning the QR code through the system.
"It's worrying" - some graduate students complained on the social network Sina Weibo, saying they felt helpless when faced with having to go to the city to take the graduation exam.
Some have questioned why the city is conducting a comprehensive epidemiological survey at this early stage, as the specific path of transmission is still unclear and there is a lack of correlation between different transmission chains. Some people said that compared to a survey in Tianjin, in which the patient's movement can be determined accurately every minute, the results in Xi'an are incomplete and unclear.
However, random interviews with many Tay An residents conducted by the Times Worldwide on December 22 showed a positive trend: Specific arrangements for the postgraduate exam have been made; basic living needs can be guaranteed; the situation is not as stressful.
As the city is about to close from midnight on December 22, a local Ma told the Times that people have flocked to supermarkets to buy daily items because all households can only send one person out every two days to buy necessities and then be blocked off, except in emergencies.
Chinese public health experts say these complaints are normal because some cities in the country have set good examples in disease prevention and control, and Chinese people of course have a high standard in responding to local authorities in emergencies.
"There has been an undetectable transmission in Tay An," Lu Hongzhou, head of People's Hospital No. 3 in Shenzhen and a member of the national expert committee for disease control and prevention, told the Times World.
Lu said the outbreak had entered its peak and noted that the situation may not be brought under immediate control. However, based on the zero-COVID strategy as well as the rapid adjustment of local authorities in management, Tay An is expected to prevent the spread of the virus for about 4 weeks.
