OREANDA-NEWS. Several hundred thousand people in the Chinese city of Yan'an have been ordered to stay at home due to the situation with the spread of the coronavirus COVID-19 there, local media reported.

In Yanan, located 300 km from the city of Xi'an, which previously also imposed severe restrictive measures due to COVID-19, all enterprises and companies have been shut down.

In Xi'an, earlier in December, all domestic flights were canceled, the movement of trains and intercity vehicles was limited. All public events are prohibited, the authorities require residents not to leave their homes, except in urgent cases. Only one person in the family is allowed to visit stores to purchase groceries and essential goods once every two days.

So far, it is known that seven cases of infection with the omicron strain, which is actively spreading around the world, have been identified in China. Four cases were confirmed in Guangzhou City (Guangdong Province), two in Changsha City (Hunan Province), and one in Tianjin City of Central Government.

In total, on Monday, according to the Chinese State Health Committee, 209 new cases of coronavirus were registered in the country: 27 imported from abroad and 182 domestically, of which 180 were in Shaanxi province.

Chinese authorities are concerned about the spread of the infection within the country amid the upcoming Winter Olympics in Beijing, due from February 4 to 20, 2022.