Urumqi resumes normal life functioning with relaxed COVID curbs

URUMQI: Conditions are ready for regular epidemic prevention and control measures in Urumqi, the capital of Northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, and the city will step up efforts to boost the resumption of work, production and business activities, local officials said on Sunday.

Starting from Sunday, pedestrian malls and ski resorts in the city resumed operation, officials said at a press conference. Feng Lei, deputy director of Bureau of Commerce of Urumqi, said that from Monday, business and service industry will resume normal in an orderly manner, including large scale shopping malls, supermarkets, commercial complexes, large integrated markets and professional markets, hotels, restaurants, accommodation and catering enterprises.

Cinemas, gyms, swimming pools, gymnasiums and other cultural leisure and entertainment venues, as well as amusement parks and scenic spots will begin staggered opening to customers by appointment in groups.

Ski resorts in Xinjiang will open to the public starting from Monday as well. During the 2021 ski season, the Nanshan ski resort in Urumqi welcomed 658,000 tourists, with more than 5,000 skiers per day, according to Culture and Tourism Department of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

Meanwhile, in-store dining remains suspended in restaurants and hotels. On Saturday, Xinjiang reported a total of 11 new confirmed cases and 665 asymptomatic infections.

In the process of orderly restoration of production and everyday life, the local government vowed to strengthen the standardized use of “venue codes.” When entering public places or taking public transport, citizens should take scan “venue codes” and cooperate with officials and relevant personnel. – The Daily Mail-GT News Exchange Item.