Xi’an in China
City of millions tightened lockdown rules: German company employees sleep in the plant
Security forces control an area in Xi’an, northern China’s Shaanxi Province, that was closed after the recent corona outbreak
© AFP
The Chinese metropolis of Xi’an has been in lockdown after a corona outbreak since mid-December. Now the authorities have tightened the protective measures again. A German company now offers employees beds.
Although the number of corona infections in China is negligible compared to other countries, the authorities are taking rigorous action against new outbreaks. The residents of Xi’an are particularly feeling this right now: Several days after a lockdown was imposed in the northern Chinese metropolis due to a corona outbreak, the city administration has tightened its restrictions there even further. The “strictest social control measures” now apply to Xi’an, as the authorities announced on Monday via online media.
Accordingly, private vehicles are only allowed to drive in the city if their drivers are directly involved in containing the corona outbreak. Compliance with this rule is strictly monitored with vehicle controls, it said. Violators could be punished with up to ten days’ imprisonment and fined 500 yuan.
Meeting rooms to dormitories
German companies are also affected, as reported by the “Handelsblatt”. According to this, the Bosch joint venture UAES has set up camp beds in its vehicle components plant on which the employees spend the night. “We have turned our meeting rooms into dormitories”, reports plant manager Aytekin Bozkan to the “Handelsblatt”. “Most executives sleep in the factory”. Production line workers would stay in nearby hotels, which would be in a “quarantine bubble” with the plant. Those who go home cannot go back to work.
The authorities also urged migrant workers in Xi’an not to travel to their hometowns for the upcoming Chinese New Year celebrations. On Monday, two cities in Shaanxi province each reported a corona infection that is related to the infections in Xi’an.
Xi’an conducts corona mass tests
In the city of 13 million people – home of the world-famous Terracotta Army – the worst corona outbreak in China in 21 months was detected this month. On Monday, the number of people infected with Sars-Cov-2 in Xi’an rose by 150 to around 650 cases since December 9, according to the authorities.
Winter travel in Corona times: These rules apply in other countries
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A lockdown came into effect in Xi’an in the middle of last week. All non-essential shops and businesses as well as schools were closed, and only one person per household is allowed to leave the house every three days to buy essentials. In addition, the authorities in Xi’an started several mass tests of the population. Almost 30,000 people were placed in quarantine hotels. Movement within the city and out of Xi’an has been severely restricted.
China is currently fighting against sources of infection in several cities, including important industrial metropolises in the east and south of the People’s Republic. The authorities are determined to contain the virus before the Winter Olympics start in Beijing in February.
Coronavirus detected in China for the first time in 2019
The novel coronavirus Sars-CoV-2 was first detected in the central Chinese city of Wuhan at the end of 2019. As a result, China largely contained the pandemic with strict measures such as cordoning off entire megacities and mass tests. According to official information, there have been only two corona deaths in the People’s Republic for more than a year. Since the beginning of the pandemic, a total of around 100,000 infections and 4,636 corona deaths have been registered in China.
Several cases of Ebola fever were also recently discovered in Xi’an. However, the authorities said this potentially fatal disease is common in northern China. It can easily be avoided with a vaccination.