BEIJING
\nNew coronavirus cases in China\u2019s locked-down city of Xi\u2019an edged down Monday, official data showed, while local authorities removed two senior officials to \u201cstrengthen\u201d their fight against Covid.
\nBeijing has pursued a \u201czero Covid\u201d approach with tight border restrictions and targeted lockdowns since the virus first emerged, but this strategy has come under pressure with recent local outbreaks.
\nThe northern city of Xi\u2019an, home to the world-famous Terracotta Warriors, has become the latest epicentre with authorities ordering all 13 million residents to stay home and several rounds of mass testing in recent weeks.
\nXi\u2019an reported 90 new local virus cases on Monday, down from 122 cases a day before. Since December 9, there have been more than 1,600 virus cases reported in the city.
\n\u201cWe have entered a general state of attack,\u201d said provincial official Liu Guozhong according to an official notice, adding that it was necessary to achieve the goal of clearing society of coronavirus cases as soon as possible.
\nOn Sunday, Xi\u2019an announced that two senior Communist Party officials from the Yanta district had been removed from their posts, according to local media, in a bid to \u201cstrengthen the work of epidemic prevention and control\u201d in the area.
\nLast month, China\u2019s disciplinary body announced that dozens of officials were punished for \u201cinsufficient rigour in preventing and controlling the outbreak\u201d.
\nLocal residents told media in recent days that they were struggling to find enough food, despite Chinese authorities insisting they were working to ensure stable supplies.
\nAlthough China\u2019s reported coronavirus cases are low compared with elsewhere, new infections in recent days have reached a high not seen in the country since March 2020.
\nThe spike comes as Beijing prepares to host the Winter Olympics next month.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
BEIJING New coronavirus cases in China\u2019s locked-down city of Xi\u2019an edged down Monday, official data showed, while local authorities removed two senior officials to \u201cstrengthen\u201d their fight against Covid. Beijing has pursued a \u201czero Covid\u201d approach with tight border restrictions and targeted lockdowns since the virus first emerged, but this strategy has come under pressure […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-236660","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n