Coronavirus Infections Mount to Four Dozen in Xinjiang Capital Amid New Outbreak

A coronavirus outbreak in northwestern China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) continued to spread Monday, as the number of cases increased to nearly four dozen in the capital Urumqi and officials confirmed the first case in the city of Kashgar (in Chinese, Kashi). The XUAR Health Commission announced 17 new cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, in the XUAR on Monday, bringing the total number to at least 47 since infections were first reported in the region on July 15—months since the last positive test.

The new cases sent Urumqi into a lockdown on Friday, as authorities canceled nearly all flights in and out of the city of 3.5 million, shut down public transportation, and ordered residents to remain in their homes. The Urumqi municipal government has not issued an update on the number of infected residents since last week.

The official Global Times newspaper cited the health commission as saying authorities had discovered 16 patients in Urumqi and nine asymptomatic viral carriers infected with COVID-19 on Monday. It said the capital now has a total of 50 asymptomatic carriers—a classification that the Chinese government does not consider a confirmed infection.

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