All-out fight against Covid outbreak in Xi’an

Medical staff members maintain order in Bicuijinhua community, Xincheng district of Xi'an, on Dec. 23. (Xinhua/ Liu Xiao)

A new round of Covid-19 mass testing was launched at more than 3,000 nucleic acid test sites on December 23, in Xi'an, northwest China's Shaanxi province.

At the nucleic acid test sites, anti-epidemic staffs were reminding people to keep a distance of one meter. Meanwhile, the sites also provided a channel for people without smart phones, which were widely used for identity verification before testing.

"There are nearly 7,000 people in this community. The testing was carried out in buildings and batches from 9 am. And we have added more two testing teams to speed up the testing," said Li Shanshan, one of the anti-epidemic staff.

“I buy fruits and vegetables through WeChat network, and they will be delivered straight to my door," said Ms. Tian, a resident in Xi’an. Due to a new confirmed case in this area, a lockdown was imposed on her community for seven consecutive days.

After being sterilized and classified, the daily necessities of milk, egg, meat, vegetables, fruits, etc. would be delivered by epidemic prevention staffs.

A vegetable box wagon is offered for residents to buy vegetables in Xi'an’s Quchifang community on Dec. 23. (Xinhua/ Liu Xiao)

As the largest necessity distribution center in northwest China, the Xinqiao agricultural products logistics center is responsible for more than 90% of the supply of vegetables and more than half of the meat in Xi'an.

“At present, we have stored 12,000 tons of vegetables, including cabbage, radish, and potatoes. Together with the daily inventory of 20,000 tons, the whole stock at the center is enough for the 13 million people in Xi'an to sustain for a week," said Liu Xinfeng, deputy general manager of the center.

“Now, 2,254 tons of wheat are being transported back to China from Kazakhstan on the China-Europe express train and are expected to arrive in Xi’an at the end of this month,” said Liu Dongmeng, deputy secretary of the Aiju Grain and Oil Industry Group.

"From December 17 to 23, there were 65 China-Europe trains departing and arriving at Xi'an international port station, including 48 trains involving daily necessities," said Bai Kuanfeng, head of Xi'an international port station.

From December 9 to 13:00 on the 23, Xi'an reported a total of 234 local confirmed cases, according to a press conference on Covid prevention. Starting from 23, a citywide lockdown was imposed on to curb the spread of the latest Covid outbreak. 

Workers carry vegetables in the Xinqiao agricultural products logistics center in the west of Xi'an, Dec. 19. (Xinhua/ Liu Xiao)

Reporting by Li Hua, Sun Qiao and Zhang Bin (Xinhua); Trans-editing by Yang Xuan