Beijing: Redoubling its efforts to control new virus outbreaks, China government has ordered a lockdown of the 13 million residents of the northern city of Xi’an.

Following a spike in coronavirus cases, the measure comes just weeks before the country hosts the Winter Olympics in Beijing, roughly 1,000 kilometers (6210 miles) to the west.

Under the new restrictions announced on Wednesday, only one person per household is allowed to leave home every two days to buy essential goods.

China has a strict zero-Covid strategy, using mass testing and lockdown to stop outbreaks.

The country is on high alert for Covid as it gears up to host the 2022 Winter Olympics in February.

State media have been reporting this week that Xi’an is facing a “dual epidemic” as there have been “several reported cases of haemorrhagic fever, a natural epidemic disease with a high fatality rate”. However, this is reported as being a “common” seasonal disease in northern China, and predominantly concentrated in rural areas.

China has admitted that Covid-19 remains the “biggest challenge” to the Winter Olympics.

The country, where the virus was first recorded, has confirmed more than 113,000 cases and 4,849 deaths.