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Just a few days away from the Beijing Winter Olympics and the Lunar New Year, China has placed 1.2 million people in lockdown in an area near the capital of Beijing -- Xiong'an New Area, AFP reported.

No public announcements were supposedly made with regards to the lockdown, which was put in place on Jan. 25, after a "handful" of Covid-19 cases were detected, even to inform the local residents.

Local virus prevention personnel reportedly confirmed that the area no longer allowed people to enter or leave their residential compounds.

Xiong'an, 'city of the future'

Xiong'an is a new economic zone located about 100km southwest of Beijing.

The area has three counties and is positioned as a green city, supposedly to feature "innovation and a national model of high-quality development", according to Chinese state-run media China Daily.

According to South China Morning Post (SCMP), Xiong'an is a site in Hebei province "hand-picked" by Chinese president Xi Jinping to be developed into the country's "dream city".

Confusion among residents

According to AFP, there was confusion among some residents in Xiong'an as the lockdown was not publicly announced.

This is in contrast to recent lockdowns in China, which have been publicly announced and reported by Chinese state media, such as the lockdowns in Xi'an, Yuzhou, and Tianjin.

Virus prevention staff from one of the counties in Xiong'an estimated the lockdown to last for about a week, though the exact timing is uncertain.

The lockdown was imposed on Jan. 25, after authorities acknowledged that five Covid-19 positive cases have been detected in one of the districts so far.

"Closed-loop" for the Olympics

China has consistently pursued a "zero-Covid" strategy, with targeted lockdowns, strict border restrictions, and lengthy quarantine periods.

With the Lunar New Year and Winter Olympics just around the corner, authorities in China are under pressure to keep the Covid situation under control, The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported.

According to the WSJ, the weeklong New Year holidays was the world’s largest seasonal human migration, with hundreds of millions of people travelling across the country to gather with relatives.

China's Ministry of Transport estimated about 1.2 billion trips will take place this festive season, fewer than the 3 billion trips in pre-pandemic years.

People who live in high and medium-risk areas have also been urged to minimise their travel, though no travel ban has been issued yet.

All athletes, journalists, and other participants of the Beijing Winter Olympics have to be vaccinated or do a three weeks quarantine and test negative for Covid -19 before entering a "closed-loop", which will be isolated from the rest of the city.

Athletes who are unable to receive the Covid-19 vaccine due to age restrictions in their respective countries may be exempted from the rule.

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Top image via Evening Standard/Getty Images