China’s Xian to end Covid-19 lockdown if it reaches ‘zero social transmission’

The full lockdown in the Chinese city of Xian, which has entered a 13th day, will be lifted only when “zero social transmission” of Covid-19 infections is achieved, local authorities said on Tuesday.

Zero social transmission would mean that new confirmed cases were either isolated “close contacts” or “close contacts of close contacts” of previously recorded cases, with no other transmission in the community, Chen Zhijun, deputy director of the Xian Disease Prevention and Control Centre, told news portal ThePaper.cn.