China: a city of 13 million inhabitants screened for Covid-19


After the discovery of around 40 cases of Covid-19, the city of Xi’an in northern China has decided to test all of its 13 million inhabitants.

A radical decision given the few cases of Covid-19 in the country but with the approach of the Chinese New Year festivities and the Winter Olympics, China does not want to leave anything to chance and keep the epidemic under surveillance .

These are draconian measures that have enabled the country to considerably reduce the presence of the virus on its soil since the spring of 2020. Among these effective measures, long mandatory quarantines upon arrival in the territory, targeted confinements or even screening massive like the one organized in Xi’an.

China, however, continues to regularly face small sporadic outbreaks, usually contained within a few weeks. The virus appeared in late 2019 in Wuhan, a city in central China.

China controls the epidemic

It was after the announcement, by the Ministry of Health, of the discovery of 42 new cases in Xi’an, that this mass screening was decided. At the same time, the city has closed schools and large indoor recreation centers, while encouraging residents to avoid going out and congregating in large groups.

Since December 9, 2021, 91 cases have been discovered in this northern city known for its museum, which hosts the famous army buried in terracotta. The latter is in the mausoleum of the first emperor of China.

For more than a year, the country has been pursuing a “zero Covid-19” policy, which should make it possible to limit the number of new daily cases as much as possible. The Chinese Ministry of Health announced this weekend that 1.19 billion people had already received two doses of vaccines in the country. This represents about 85% of the Chinese population.



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