China battles COVID-19 in northwestern Shaanxi province

By Riyaz ul Khaliq

ISTANBUL (AA) - China has reported more than 100 cases in its northwestern Shaanxi province for a sixth consecutive day on Friday.

China’s National Health Commission said on Friday that 166 local cases were reported in the country on Thursday, of which 165 were reported in Shaanxi. Xi’an, the provincial capital, is under strict lockdown after delta variant-driven COVID-19 cases were detected earlier this month.

Besides, at least 29 new imported cases were reported in 10 provincial-level regions of the country, according to the commission.

The cases have topped 1,250 in Xi’an since Dec. 9, when the city reported its first case.

Last week, local authorities imposed strict lockdown suspending schools and public transport and launching several rounds of mass testing.

It was in December 2019 when first cases of COVID-19 were found in the Wuhan city of the central Hubei province. China has so far reported a total of 102,083 cases, including 4,636 deaths.

China has administered over 2.8 billion vaccines jabs in the country and has also shipped close to 2 billion jabs across the world.