Lockdown of 3rd city means 20 million Chinese are now stuck at home

The city of Anyang announced it was locking down last Monday because of a COVID-19 outbreak, after two new cases of the omicron variant were reported.

The city’s 5.5 million residents are not allowed to go out and stores have been ordered shut except those selling necessities, according to the Associated Press.

They join the 13 million residents locked down in X’ian and 1.1 million in Yuzhou, who have been restricted to their homes for three weeks and one week, respectively. The other two are grappling with outbreaks of the previous delta variant, with no reported omicron cases.

The Anyang omicron cases are believed to be linked to the two cases discovered in Tianjin on Saturday. This may be the first time omicron has spread in mainland China beyond people who arrive from abroad and their immediate contacts.

Tianjin has opted for a partial lockdown, isolating parts of the city as officials test neighborhoods closest to the initial cases.

Beijing officials have doubled down on their “zero cases” strategy, hoping to snuff out outbreaks leading up to the Winter Olympics Games that begin Feb. 4.

“If the mass cluster transmission happens, it will impact the Games and the schedule for sure,” said Huang Chun, a Beijing Olympics official responsible for disease control. “The worst scenario, if it happens, is independent of man’s will, so we leave our options open.”

Anyang is about 500 miles (804 kilometers) south of Beijing. It has archeological importance as the capital of the ancient Shang dynasty and was where the earliest Chinese writing has been found.

The total number in Anyang is still relatively low, with only 58 new cases confirmed from the lockdown’s start to Tuesday morning.