China's Xi'an marks first week of lockdown as Covid cases persist

In this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, an aerial photo shows a quiet commercial street in Xi'an in northwestern China's Shaanxi Province on Dec 25, 2021. Xi'an, which is about 1,000km southwest of Beijing, reported more than 300 new cases over the weekend, a sharp rise from previous days. - AP

BEIJING (Reuters): A lockdown of 13 million people in the Chinese city of Xi'an entered its seventh day on Wednesday (Dec 29), with many unable to leave their homes and virtually dependent on deliveries of necessities as new Covid-19 infections persisted.

Xi'an reported 151 domestically transmitted infections with confirmed symptoms for Tuesday, or nearly all of the 152 cases nationwide, bringing the total number of local Xi'an cases to nearly 1,000 during the Dec 9-28 period. No cases of the Omicron variant have been announced in the city.