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Performers at the Charm Xiangxi Theatre, where four positive cases attended a show. Photo: Weibo

China tracks thousands of visitors to theatre to stop latest Covid-19 outbreak

  • Staff at the theatre in the Wulingyuan World Heritage Site in Hunan are collecting the details of 70,000 people after four positive cases attended a performance
  • The latest outbreak involves the highly transmissible Delta variant and has now spread to 26 cities across the country

China is tracking thousands of people who visited a theatre in a popular tourist destination as part of its efforts to curb the spread of the highly contagious Delta variant of Covid-19.

The outbreak, which originated in the eastern city of Nanjing, has spread to 26 cities across the country.

Zhangjiajie in the central province of Hunan has become a new focal point for the outbreak after at least 18 cases were traced to the city.

Staff at the Charming Xiangxi Theatre in the Wulingyuan scenic area, a Unesco heritage site, were collecting the contact and seat information of around 70,000 visitors, the Guangzhou-based Southern Weekly newspaper reported on Friday.

Nanjing airport virus cluster ‘spreads to 15 other Chinese cities’

Four asymptomatic Covid-19 cases, who tested positive after they returned to the northeastern city of Dalian, visited the theatre for a one-hour live performance on July 22, according to Zhangjiajie health authorities.

Authorities classified the whole audience as “high risk” and requested them to report to disease control agencies for testing and quarantine. The theatre has 2,800 seats. Audience members had to give their names and contact details when buying tickets and wear a mask during performances.

The city – home to a forest park famous for its quartz-sandstone pillars, such as the “Avatar Mountain”, and the world’s highest glass bridge – closed all attractions on Friday morning, along with theatres, museums, and underground malls. It has advised tourists not to travel to the city.

Local authorities said they had asked 11,900 visitors from more than 750 tour groups to leave the city and arranged coaches and refunds. The visitors will also be tested for Covid-19.

Tourists are drawn to Zhangjiajie’s scenery, include the “Avatar Mountain” which inspired the blockbuster movie. Photo: AFP

There have also been positive tests from visitors to Zhangjiajie who did not visit the theatre, including a family of three from Sichuan province who took a river cruise in Changde. On Thursday the authorities in the city of Zhuzhou said 12 cases had been confirmed to be related to the cruise.

Zhangjiajie and Changsha, both in Hunan province, and Beijing each reported one Covid-19 infection on Friday, while the eastern province of Jiangsu, which includes Nanjing, reported 18 cases.

Shao Yiming, an epidemiologist with the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention and part of the country’s Covid-19 vaccine response team, said the nationwide Covid-19 risk remained low despite the outbreak.

“The outbreak in Nanjing was detected in a timely manner and very intensive measures were taken,” he said on Thursday.

01:31

Heavenly scenes after rainfall in China’s Zhangjiajie

Heavenly scenes after rainfall in China’s Zhangjiajie

“We have put out outbreaks since the second half of last year in a period of a few weeks. I believe it will be the same for Nanjing this time,” he said.

“We can control this outbreak more quickly and effectively with both [vaccines and public health measures].”

Nanjing reported 13 new Covid-19 infections on Friday, bringing the total number to 184 cases and one asymptomatic infection since July 20. The city has launched a third round of mass citywide testing for its population of more than 9.3 million.

Nanjing Covid-19 cluster jumps to China’s highest daily total in months

Police in Jiangsu province said they had detained three people who “intentionally hid their real travel history” during contact tracing.

The three flew to Zhangjiajie on July 17 for a trip and returned on July 23, according to the police. The force said they did not follow an order to undergo a two-week quarantine and withheld their travel details.

Police also detained a woman who claimed on social media that she had tested positive for Covid-19 for posting false information that had “a harmful influence on society”.

Visitors crowded on to the glass bridge in Zhangjiajie last month. Photo: STR / AFP

A man has also been detained for refusing to display his health code when entering a residential community and attacking staff.

On Friday, Nanjing health authorities also apologised for erroneously stating Zhangjiajie was in Hubei province, instead of its neighbour Hunan, in a statement issued on Thursday about testing travellers from the city. “Bei” means north in Mandarin while “nan” means south.

Health authorities said the source of the outbreak was a flight from Russia on July 10, which first infected airport cleaners at Nanjing Lukou International Airport.

02:37

China under pressure as Nanjing airport coronavirus cluster spreads to 15 cities

China under pressure as Nanjing airport coronavirus cluster spreads to 15 cities

“Investigations show that the cleaners who worked in the cabin did not strictly follow guidelines on handling protective equipment and contracted the virus,” deputy director general of the Nanjing Centre for Disease Control and Prevention Ding Jie said on Friday.

She said the virus had further spread among cleaners and other airport staff.

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: Thousands of visitors to theatre tracked
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