COVID lockdown day 2 in Yuzhou, Henan province, and day 13 in Xi’an, Shaanxi province, in China

In today’s (Jan. 4) South China Morning Post, Ben Zhao reports that Yuzhou, a city of 1 million people in central China’s Henan province, was placed into lockdown on Monday, Jan. 3, apparently due to only three symptomatic persons with COVID-19. Of note, Henan borders Shaanxi province, where the capital city of 13 million people, Xi’an, continues into its 13th day of strict lockdown that has raised concerns over food availability for many residents.

It has not been reported yet whether the outbreak in Henan province (Yuzhou) is linked epidemiologically to the much larger ongoing outbreak in neighboring Shaanxi province (Xi’an). So far, no reports of Omicron (or its absence) have appeared in either Yuzhou or Xi’an. 

The total confirmed and publicly reported case count in the northwestern city of Xi’an has reached 1,758 local symptomatic cases since Dec. 9. These cases have been found in all districts of Xi’an, however, and thus the entire city was shut down. Since Dec. 21, a total of eight rounds of mass testing have taken place across Xi’an.

China reportedly plans to use a “closed loop” isolation bubble, without international spectators, to minimize SARS-CoV-2 infections during the upcoming winter Olympics beginning 1 month from now, on Feb. 3-4.

If Omicron is present and spreading anywhere in China before or during the Olympics, it will be a lesson for the world to see how China responds. It will be an historic event to observe how successfully China applies their “zero-COVID” policy to prevent an “Omicron Olympics.” Let’s hope China succeeds not only against Delta but also against the more transmissible Omicron variant that antibodies induced by two doses of China’s inactivated vaccines may not neutralize.