China battles Covid-19 surge in Xian with mass disinfection, more testing
- Clouds of disinfectant covered the city to combat the outbreak, with 150 new cases reported on Sunday
- Local officials have described the situation as ‘dire and complex’ with case numbers expected to remain high in coming days
The city’s 13 million residents were given just a few hours’ notice on Sunday afternoon that a “full-scale” deep cleaning would start at 6pm to “further improve the prevention and control of the epidemic, and effectively protect the health and life safety of the people”.
The drastic approach was followed on Monday by a fourth round of mass testing and further restrictions as city officials battle a spike in infections, with more than 150 new cases on Sunday, a slight decrease on Saturday’s 155 cases.
Since Xian’s first local Covid-19 case was reported on December 9, daily case numbers have been growing and expanding to more communities, to reach a total of 635 cases by Sunday.
Residents were asked to close their doors and windows ahead of Sunday’s deep cleaning of the city, and to bring in any laundry from open balconies. They were also advised to avoid touching building exteriors, as well as plants and trees, and to wash their hands if they did come into contact with any external surfaces.
Video clips were live-streamed showing people in full protective gear spraying disinfectants on the underground rail system, on public roads, entrances to government buildings, and into the air.