Xi'an Comes Under Lockdown To Rein In Covid Spread

China ordered the lockdown of as many as 13 million people in neighborhoods and workplaces in the northern city of Xi'an following a spike in coronavirus cases, setting off panic buying just weeks before the country hosts the Winter Olympic Games.

City officials ordered all residents to stay home unless they had a pressing reason to go out and suspended all transport to and from the city apart from special cases.

One person from each household will be permitted out every two days to buy household necessities, the order said.

It took effect at midnight Wednesday, with no word on when it might be lifted.

There was no word on whether the virus was the newly surging omicron variant or the far more common delta.

China has recorded just seven omicron cases – four in Guangzhou, two in Changsha and one in Tianjin.

Social media posts recorded panic buying of groceries and household products, with the government saying new supplies would be brought in.

Xi’an on Thursday reported another 63 locally transmitted cases over the previous 24 hours, pushing the city's total to at least 211 over the past week. (Reuters)