New COVID-19 Cases in China’s Xinjiang Region Triggers Lockdown of Prefecture

A child looks out from a door as a Uighur woman walks by in a residential area in Turpan, Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, on Oct. 31, 2013. Michael Martina/Reuters

Homes have been sealed and large numbers of travelers are stranded in a prefecture in China’s Xinjiang region bordering Kazakhstan where two new cases of COVID-19 have been found, according to residents.

The Xinjiang Health Commission reported on Oct. 3 two new cases of asymptomatic infections in Khorgos City, Ili Kazakh Prefecture (Ili Prefecture). On the same day, the city, with a population of 85,000, reportedly contact traced 192 people, all of whom were quarantined.