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Yesterday, in China Reports 21 Month High In COVID Cases (n=206), we looked at the most serious threat to China's Zero-COVID policy since March of 2020, with the capital city of Shaanxi - Xi'an - reporting 155 cases alone.
Today China is reporting another 200 COVID cases, including 162 local cases (152 in Shaanxi, including 150 in Xi'an).
While this pales in comparison to nearly every other nation on earth, for China - which has kept COVID at bay for nearly two years - this is setting off alarm bells and prompting a major response. First, this report from China Daily, after which I'll return with a postscript.
COVID-19 outbreak developing in Xi'an
By WANG XIAOYU | China Daily
Lockdown, mass testing help reduce transmission risk, but spread continues
A citywide lockdown and mass COVID-19 testing in Xi'an, capital of Northwest China's Shaanxi province, have enabled the city to reduce the risk of transmission, but the local outbreak is still developing, local authorities said on Sunday.
The city reported 155 new domestic cases on Saturday, bringing the total number of confirmed infections since Dec 9 to 485, He Wenquan, a senior Xi'an government official, said during a briefing.
Most of the new cases were identified among people already being put in quarantine or were detected during mass screening, he said.
The city completed three rounds of mass testing last week and imposed a citywide lockdown starting on Thursday as the local outbreak continues to spread rapidly, affecting several areas outside Xi'an.
"Most hidden infections and cases scattered in communities have been detected thanks to mass testing programs, which is expected to reduce the risk of the virus' further spread," he said.
A new round of citywide testing will be rolled out on Monday noon.
He added that with more screenings underway, it is likely that daily new infections in the city will remain high over the next few days, but there is no need for panic.
Starting on Sunday evening, the city launched a disinfection campaign, according to the local government.
Virus control measures will be intensified in areas deemed at a particularly high risk of the virus' spread, and supportive measures to ensure the basic livelihoods of residents will also be ramped up, the government said.
(Continue . . )
Although China reports having vaccinated 1.2 Billion people with their domestically produced CoronaVac and Sinopharm COVID vaccines, even before the emergence of the Omicron variant there were concerns over their effectiveness and duration of protection (see Nature China’s COVID vaccines have been crucial — now immunity is waning).
In the spring of 2020 China managed to shut down widespread community transmission of the much less transmissible `wild type' COVID that first emerged in Wuhan two years ago through what many have described as authoritarian and draconian actions.
Since then they have snuffed out dozens of smaller brush fires sparked by imported Alpha and Delta variants (see here, here, and here), using a combination of regional lockdowns, mass testing, and quarantine.
Whether Zero-COVID policies can withstand the onslaught of a far more transmissible Omicron variant remains to be seen.
