China to test 13 million in Zhengzhou as Xi'an outbreak eases

The city of Zhengzhou ordered its nearly 13 million residents to take Covid-19 tests after a handful of cases were detected, as China fights to stamp out virus clusters ahead of the Beijing Winter Olympics.

Everyone in Zhengzhou, which has been placed under a partial lockdown, must be tested to "thoroughly uncover infections hidden among the public", the city's government said in a statement.

The city has detected 11 cases in recent days.

The mass-testing order came as case numbers in the locked-down city of Xi'an fell to their lowest in weeks, with officials saying that the outbreak had been "brought under control".

Xi'an's 13 million residents have been under stay-at-home orders for the last fortnight. 

"Although the case number has been high for many days, the rapid rise in Covid spread at community level has been brought under control compared with the early stages of the outbreak," said Ma Guanghui, deputy director of Shaanxi province's health commission, at a press conference.

"The epidemic is showing a downward trend."

China has stuck to a rigid approach of stamping out Covid cases when they appear, with tight border restrictions and targeted lockdowns since the virus first emerged in the country in 2019.

But, with less than a month to go until the Winter Olympics in the capital, a series of small outbreaks across the country has put the strategy under pressure.

Although the number of reported cases in China is very low compared with other nations, infections in recent weeks have reached a high not seen in the country since March 2020.