XIAN BATTLES COVID-19 IN WORST OUTBREAK TO HIT A CHINESE CITY THIS YEAR

The Xian Industrial and Technology Center in China reported more than 100 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday, making the number of locally transmitted infections the highest in any Chinese city this year. Xian reported 155 new local cases on December 29th. December, official data showed.

This brings the number of local infections to more than 1,100 since the outbreak began on December 9, forcing authorities to lock down the city of 13 million people. It has been since the 23rd.

"Xian has entered a brisk phase in its fight against the virus," Zhang Fenghu, a city government official, told Samsung Electronics and Micron Technology, two of the world's largest manufacturers of memory chips, before the blockade could affect its chip manufacturing facilities in the area.

Xian is also a major tourist destination, drawing visitors to its collection of terracotta warriors who were buried with China's first emperor more than 2,000 years ago.

The authorities have launched several rounds of testing across the city to monitor the transmissions. Round six started on Thursday, a day later. Restrictions have restricted access to everyday necessities and many people cannot go out and shop, leaving them dependent on supplies.

Deliveries and the government are working to resolve the issue, a Xian government official said Wednesday.

WUHAN ANNIVERSARY

A Xian resident surnamed He told Reuters that she tried to order groceries through the online app from Alibaba-backed supermarket chain Freshippo, but was unable to secure many items such as potatoes and cucumbers.

The app posted a message saying "Delivery staff is not available" under many articles. Based on a screenshot you provided. Several boroughs have organized free grocery deliveries to some residential complexes, state media said.

The total supply of essential items in Xian is sufficient, a spokesman for the Ministry of Commerce told reporters. Now on its eighth day, it coincides with the second anniversary of the first signs of the coronavirus outbreak in downtown Wuhan. an "unknown cause," according to state media.

In addition, on Thursday, thousands of people left messages on the social media account of the late COVID-19 whistleblower Li Wenliang on the anniversary of the day, also on December 30, 2019, in which he learned of the possibility of a causative virus.

Pneumonia in Wuhan: As of Wednesday, mainland China had reported 101,890 confirmed cases of coronavirus, including local and imported, with a death toll of 4,636.