A lockdown of 13 million people in the Chinese city of Xian has entered its seventh day with many unable to leave their homes and virtually dependent on deliveries of necessities as new Covid-19 infections persist, Reuters reports.

Xian has reported 151 domestically transmitted infections with confirmed symptoms in the last 24 hours, or nearly all of the 152 cases nationwide, bringing the total number of local Xian cases to nearly 1,000 during the December 9-28 period. No cases of the Omicron variant have been announced in the city.

While the Xian outbreak is small compared with outbreaks in many other places around the world, officials imposed tough curbs on travel within and leaving the city from Dec 23, in line with Beijing's drive to immediately contain outbreaks as they appear.