New confirmed COVID-19 cases drop to eight in China's Xi'an

Xi'an, capital of northwest China's Shaanxi Province, reported eight new confirmed locally transmitted COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, local authorities said Wednesday.

This is the first time new cases had fallen into single digits since December 18, 2021, indicating an upturn in the current epidemic situation, said Lu Yongpeng, deputy director of the city's health commission.

The city had registered 2,025 local cases amid the latest resurgence. Of these, 540 had recovered by Tuesday.

The city kicked off a new round of mass testing in key areas at 9 am Wednesday to further curb the spread of the virus. There are currently three high-risk areas and 37 middle-risk areas for COVID-19 in Xi'an.