Xi’an, the capital of northwest China’s Shaanxi Province, will conduct mass nucleic acid testing for all its residents after seven new locally transmitted confirmed cases of the Omicron variant were detected in the city, local authorities announced Monday..
The testing will begin at 9 a.m. Tuesday and is expected to be completed within 24 hours, according to a notice released by the Xi’an municipal government..
The seven new cases were all close contacts of a previously confirmed case who had returned from abroad, the notice said..
The city has launched an epidemiological investigation and has taken measures to control the spread of the virus, including isolating close contacts and disinfecting public areas..
Xi’an has reported a total of 10 locally transmitted confirmed cases of the Omicron variant since Sunday..
The Omicron variant, first identified in South Africa in November 2021, is highly transmissible and has become the dominant strain of the virus in many countries..
China has reported a total of 143 locally transmitted confirmed cases of the Omicron variant as of Monday, according to the National Health Commission..
The majority of the cases have been reported in the eastern coastal province of Zhejiang, where a local outbreak of the variant has been ongoing since the end of December..
Other cases have been reported in the provinces of Guangdong, Jiangsu, Shandong, and Yunnan, as well as the municipalities of Beijing and Shanghai..
The Chinese government has been taking measures to contain the spread of the Omicron variant, including increasing testing and vaccination rates and implementing strict travel restrictions..
The country has also approved several domestic vaccines for the Omicron variant, and vaccination campaigns are underway..
Despite the recent increase in Omicron cases, China’s overall COVID-19 situation remains under control..
The country has reported a total of 104,674 confirmed cases of COVID-19, including 4,636 deaths, since the beginning of the pandemic..
The vast majority of cases have been reported in the early stages of the pandemic, and the country has been able to contain the spread of the virus through strict containment measures..
China’s success in controlling the spread of COVID-19 has been praised by the World Health Organization and other international health organizations..
The country’s experience and best practices have been shared with other countries around the world, and China has provided assistance to many countries in their fight against the pandemic..
