China has adopted a "zero-covid" strategy as Beijing prepares to welcome thousands of foreigners to the February Winter Olympics. But officials have faced a resurgence of cases in recent weeks. As many as 203 infections were reported on Tuesday (the highest number in a single day since March last year) when the virus spread worldwide from the city of Wuhan alone.
A citywide lockdown was imposed on December 4 after 120 of the 12 local cases were reported in Xi'an, the capital of Shanxi province. The total number of confirmed cases in Xi'an from December 2 to Monday was eight, Zhang Bo, deputy director of the Xi'an Health Commission, told a news conference on Monday. According to the press conference, Xian, a city of 12 million people, launched a new round of nucleic acid tests and tightened its lockdown by forcing all its residents to stay home to ensure the accuracy of test reports. Zhang Boli, an educator at the Chinese Academy of Engineering, was quoted by Xinhua News Agency as saying. Xian needs intensive control and screening measures to prevent the virus as soon as possible.
My estimate is that the transmission will decrease by mid-January and the outbreak will be completely controlled by the end of January. This can be done. He Wenquan, a senior official at the Xi'an Municipal Government, said the initial investigation, quarantine and large-scale testing were needed to prevent corona and reduce the likelihood of infection. A third wave of corona could hit India, experts have repeatedly warned. The first warning from IIT Kanpur was that a third wave of Corona could occur in January and February. The second warning, given by the Policy Commission, is that if a third wave strikes, the country could receive 1.5 million cases a day, the highest number ever recorded in the world. He said the next epidemic would be more deadly. In such a scenario, the government may consider a lockdown to avoid a third wave. The Netherlands has already imposed a lockdown on its country by January 15.
Schools, colleges, museums, pubs, discotheques and restaurants will be completely closed. At the same time, the US and UK governments may now impose partial lockdowns on Christmas and New Year in view of the crowds. The UK has made it mandatory to show a vaccination certificate before going to nightclubs and parties, while Israel has banned travel from today, putting 10 countries on a no-fly list, including the US, Canada and Germany. The French government has banned the use of fireworks on Christmas and New Year's Day to prevent crowds from gathering. Ireland has also ordered a ban on pubs and bars entering their country after 8pm.
