Concerns grow as Delta outbreak spreads in China

Special Desk

While the scientists world across were wondering how China had controlled covid spread within its boundaries for the past few months, a fresh Covid outbreak has troubled authorities in China.

Covid has spread to more locations in China, raising concerns over the country’s vulnerability to the highly contagious Delta variant. To put in numbers more than 300 cases have been detected within a span of 10 days.

The government has imposed fresh travel restrictions and is testing in millions. It is unclear how many in China are fully vaccinated, although authorities say more than 1.6 billion doses have been administered so far.

A total of 15 provinces and municipalities have now confirmed cases, of which 12 are connected to an outbreak that began in Nanjing in China’s eastern Jiangsu province. Authorities have attributed the spread to the Delta variant and the domestic tourist season.
Although case numbers are considerably lower than other places, it is considered the largest outbreak in months in China, a country that was largely successful in controlling the virus within its borders last year.

Cases first emerged in July in Nanjing airport, among workers who had cleaned a plane that arrived from Russia. Authorities promptly tested 9.2 million residents of Nanjing and imposed lockdown on hundreds of thousands of people.

But over the weekend the spotlight turned to popular tourist destination Zhangjiajie in central Hunan province, where many of the latest cases have emerged. Travellers from Nanjing were thought to have visited the city recently.

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Health officials have zeroed in on a theatre in Zhangjiajie, and are now trying to track down about 5,000 people who attended performances and then travelled back to their home cities.

All attractions in Zhangjiajie have been closed and tourists are being asked to take a Covid test before leaving the city.

All of Beijing’s air, bus and travel links to areas with positive cases have been cut. All tourists have also been banned from entering the capital, and officials are only allowing essential travellers with negative Covid tests to enter.