Things were improving and were gradually getting back to normal in Xi'an, capital of Northwest China's Shaanxi province – according to Zhang Fenghu, deputy secretary-general of the city’s municipal government, who made his remarks on Jan 16 at a news conference on the latest in the COVID-19 situation there.
As of midnight on Jan 15, Xi'an reported a total of 2,044 local confirmed cases in the latest round of the pandemic – of whom 991 cases had been discharged from hospital and transferred to rehabilitation monitoring sites and 1,053 were undergoing treatment in hospital.
Currently, the pandemic prevention and control work in Xi'an had entered a new stage of consolidating its achievements and the city was experiencing an orderly recovery, Zhang said.
It was to be hoped that residents in the districts, counties, development zones and sub-district areas – which had started undergoing screening – would actively cooperate with the nucleic acid sampling work, to eliminate hidden dangers as soon as possible, Zhang added.
Moving forwards, plans are for Xi'an to further improve its services, effectively ensuring everyone's orderly lives during the quarantine period, while doing its best to meet the different needs of individuals.
In addition to Xi'an, to date there are 19 high-risk areas and 50 medium-risk areas in other parts of the country, involving three provinces and 10 cities.
With the Spring Festival fast approaching, residents are requested to contact relatives and friends who plan to return or visit, and persuade them to celebrate the festival where they are.