Flights to and from Xi'an resume as China eases lockdown

Seven planes took off from Xi'an Xianyang International Airport in China on Saturday, the first flights since Beijing imposed a strict COVID-19 lockdown on the city last month, The Associated Press reported. The first inbound flights are expected to arrive at the airport Sunday.

According to AP, China has followed a "zero tolerance" policy that "aims to keep the virus out of China by finding and isolating every infected person."

Travel to and from the city of 13 million people has been restricted for exactly one month. China locked Xi'an down on Dec. 22 after public health authorities recorded 52 new COVID cases in the city the previous day. Under the lockdown, residents were forbidden to leave their homes except in emergency situations.

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One woman in a different city also affected by China's COVID policy earned special sympathy when quarantine orders trapped her in the house of a blind date. The woman, identified as Yang, went viral on Chinese social media after sharing her story, which began when she traveled to Zhengzhou from her home in Guangzhou for a series of blind dates.

She was on her fifth blind date when Chinese officials locked down Zhengzhou, the capital of Henan province, on Jan. 7. Wang had agreed to meet at the blind date's house so he could "show off his cooking."