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Five new coronavirus cases spark alarm in China's Xinjiang

Five new coronavirus cases spark alarm in China's Xinjiang

Coronavirus in China

The capital of China's far-western Xinjiang region curtailed most flights into the city on Friday and has shut down subway and public bus services after several coronavirus infections were detected, government authorities and state-controlled media said.

Urumqi, the capital of China's far western region of Xinjiang, reported five new coronavirus cases by noon (0400 GMT) on Friday, the regional health commission said.

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The city also reported eight new asymptomatic cases, it added, taking Xinjiang's tally to six infections and 11 asymptomatic patients.

The infections were detected beginning on Wednesday, and news of the cases prompted state media outlets in Urumqi to issue assurances on Friday that supermarkets had ample stocks of food, an apparent attempt to discourage panic-buying.

The new cases illustrate the continuing difficulty China faces in stamping out the contagion, which emerged in the central Chinese city of Wuhan late last year before spreading throughout the country and globally.

China has reported a total of more than 83,000 infections and 4,634 deaths.

Around half of Xinjiang's population of more than 21 million is composed of ethnic Uighurs and other Turkic Muslims, many of whom complain of decades of political and religious oppression by China's ruling Communist Party, which the government denies.