BEIJING (Reuters) – China is on high alert against COVID-19 as the New Year holiday looms, with the city of Xian under lockdown while several New Year’s Eve events in other cities have been cancelled and some provinces urged restraint in travel during the festive season. China reported 166 locally transmitted infections with confirmed symptoms for Thursday, according to the National Health Commission, with 161 from Xian, which is fighting the worst outbreak for a Chinese city this year. The number of domestically transmitted infections in Xian have exceeded 1,200 during the Dec. 9-30 period. W…