Chinese city suggests lockdowns for the flu and is met with criticism over it

(CNN) ⸻ The city of Xi'an, a tourism hotspot in Shaanxi province, has sparked a backlash on social media after revealing an emergency response plan that would enable it to shut schools, businesses and "other crowded places" in the event of a severe flu epidemic. The plan sounded uncomfortably similar to some of the strict zero-Covid measures China had implemented throughout the pandemic and which have only recently been abandoned. The plan outlines how the city of almost 13 million people would respond to any future outbreak based on four levels of severity: lock down infected areas, carry out traffic quarantines and suspend production and business activities. While cases of Covid in China are falling, there has been a spike in flu cases across the country and some pharmacies are struggling to meet demand for flu remedies. The Chinese government has announced that shopping malls, theaters, libraries, museums, tourist attractions and other crowded places will be closed and schools and nurseries at all levels will be shut down and responsible for tracking students' and infants' health conditions. This comes as the central government in Beijing has emphasized the need to open the country back up following the removal of all Covid restrictions in January. China had enforced some of the world's most severe Covid restrictions, including lockdowns that stretched into months in some cities. Xi'an itself was subject to a draconian lockdown between December 2021 and January 2022, with 13 million residents confined to their homes for weeks on end and many left short of food and other essential supplies. In an incident that shocked and angered the nation, a heavily pregnant woman was turned away from a hospital on New Year's Day because she didn't have a valid Covid-19 test, and suffered a miscarriage after she was finally admitted two hours later. The country had been rocked by a series of demonstrations against its zero-Covid policy, and the idea of a return to Covid-style measures appears to have hit a nerve. However, some voices online called for calm.