The recent surge of Omicron infections in Xinjiang and Tibet since the beginning of August has prompted Chinese authorities to impose “zero-COVID” policies on several major cities in the area, with more locations being added to the lockdown list.
On Aug. 10, Urumqi, the capital and the largest city of Xinjiang, was put under a three-day “static management”—another term for lockdown. However, the lockdown has been extended for five more days based on an Aug. 15 announcement by the local government.
