While the Chinese authorities ensure that the food supply is “sufficient” in the city of Xi’an, located in the center of the country and confined because of Covid-19, residents nevertheless affirmed the opposite on Thursday, and assured that they were running out of food.
Several people residing in this city of some 13 million inhabitants, under cover for a week, have indeed confided on this subject to Agence France-Presse.
Local authorities on Wednesday admitted that the restrictions were weighing on the food supply. But the central government put these difficulties into perspective on Thursday. Not enough to reassure the confined residents, who are only allowed to go out to refuel once every three days.
Gao Feng, spokesman for the Ministry of Commerce, said the authorities would take additional measures if necessary to ensure supplies to Xi’an.
“One meal a day”
National television on Thursday showed footage of employees in full coveralls sorting eggs, vegetables and meat before going door-to-door to deliver them to residents.
Some residents, however, still complained of a lack of food. “I was not delivered”, railed a resident who did not wish to give her name to AFP.
“Two days ago, I managed to order from my convenience store. But not today, ”she regretted. “I have rice at home […] I have several eggs left. One per meal, one meal per day ”.
Another resident said on condition of anonymity that she had been able to get supplies after negotiating with her residence to go out for thirty minutes. The supermarket had little stock and the vegetables weren’t fresh, she said.
China reported on Thursday 207 new Covid-19 patients, including 155 in Xi’an, high figures for the country, which observes a zero Covid policy accompanied by radical measures.
More than a thousand cases have been identified in the metropolis since the discovery of an epidemic focus on December 9. This resurgence is the most serious reported in China since March 2020, at the height of the epidemic in the first country affected by the Covid.
