BEIJING - China is on high alert against COVID-19 as the New Year holiday looms, with the city of Xian under lockdown while several New Year's Eve events in other cities have been cancelled and some provinces urged restraint in travel during the festive season.
"With the arrival of the New Year and the Lunar New Year, the number of people returning home from abroad will increase and the movement of people within China will rise," He Qinghua, an official at the National Health Commission, said on Wednesday. In the financial hub Shanghai, the Great World amusement park said it will not organise special events such as stage performances, while no count-down will take place in core districts along Huangpu river.
Shanxi province, also in the north, advised residents not to head to other provinces for tourism, while the northwestern region of Ningxia said people have been encouraged not to leave the region unnecessarily.