The Chinese government has said it will consider the use of lockdowns if there is an outbreak of influenza. The announcement was heavily criticized on social media. Many countries in the world, including india, are seeing very low percentage of flu cases resulting in deaths. The city of Xi'an, a tourism hotspot in popular Shaanxi province, unveiled an emergency response plan this week that would allow schools, businesses and "other crowded places" to close in an extreme case.

 This decision was taken in the background of the spread of the flu epidemic. According to the weekly Covid surveillance report released by the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention on Saturday, there has been a significant increase in the positivity rate for flu. In the week starting march 5, the positivity rate for the flu rose to 41.6% nationwide. This is a significant increase from the previous week's rate of 25.1%, which is worrying China. 

Two H3N2 virus deaths reported in india .Cases of H3N2 virus are also on the rise in India. Two people died due to this in the country. Experts say surveillance and precautionary measures to avoid H3N2 need to be increased but there is no cause for panic yet. According to data shared by the Union Ministry on Friday, 451 H3N2 cases were reported in the country from january 2 to march 5. The Center said that the situation is being closely monitored and the cases will decrease from the end of the month.

According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), H3N2 is a non-human influenza virus. It usually spreads in pigs. They can infect humans who are close to them. Symptoms are similar to seasonal flu viruses. Other symptoms may include fever, cough, runny nose, respiratory symptoms, body aches, nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea.