China’s latest Covid-19 outbreak spreads in Fujian province
- 22 new cases reported on Monday in the southeastern province, with initial testing showing Delta variant to blame
- The latest infections have been linked to an adult who returned from Singapore in early August
The province reported 22 new local cases on Monday, compared with 20 a day earlier. It has found 43 locally transmitted cases since Friday and put 32 asymptomatic carriers under medical observation.
Fujian authorities have ordered mass Covid-19 testing for students and teachers in the province to be completed within a week. The city of Xiamen has closed off two districts and a hospital after identifying coronavirus patients. Pupils from a Putian primary school were among the first identified Covid-19 patients in the latest outbreak.
The National Health Commission team sent to Fujian said it was likely that cases would continue to be detected in communities, schools and factories in Putian, where the present outbreak is mainly concentrated, with a risk of further spread of the virus, according to state broadcaster CCTV.
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New Covid-19 outbreak in China’s Fujian province appears to be linked to Delta variant
But the team said it was possible to control the scale of the outbreak ahead of the National Day holiday, “given all control measures are in place”.
More than 30,000 people are estimated to have left Putian for other parts of the country between late August to September 10, when the first infections in the latest outbreak were reported.