China shuts schools and events as Delta raises coronavirus alert level in south

Name: New Covid-19 outbreak in China’s Fujian province appears to be linked to Delta variant
Uploaded: 2021-09-14T01:56:40.000Z
Duration: 2 min 13 s
Description: New Covid-19 outbreak in China’s Fujian province appears to be linked to Delta variant

Xiamen residents banned from leaving area, Mid-Autumn Festival plans cancelled and Tianjin drops out as host of 2022 skating championships

Of the 85 cases reported in Xianyou, 28 were primary school pupils and eight were kindergarten children

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An alley is closed off as Xiamen goes into lockdown, with all residential areas placed in “closed-loop” management as authorities continue to battle an outbreak of the Covid-19 Delta variant in Fujian province, southeastern China. Photo: Getty Images

Zhuang Pinghui

Published: 9:56am, 14 Sep 2021Updated: 2:17pm, 15 Sep 2021

China is on high alert as the more transmissible Delta variant of coronavirus spreads rapidly in the southeastern province of Fujian, with authorities limiting movement and shutting schools amid rounds of citywide tests.

At several airports in neighbouring Guangdong province – including in Zhuhai, Shenzhen and Guangzhou – passengers from Fujian had to take tests after landing regardless of whether had presented negative coronavirus results in the previous 48 hours, according to statements from the airports.

The China Import and Export Fair, known as the Canton Fair, due to be held next month for the first time since the pandemic, will also be cut from 20 days to five as a pandemic preventive measure.

And the northern municipality of Tianjin dropped out as host of January’s Four Continents figure skating championships, telling the International Skating Union it faced a “complicated epidemic situation involving travel restrictions, quarantine requirements, safety concerns and logistical challenges”, according to the ISU.

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New Covid-19 outbreak in China’s Fujian province appears to be linked to Delta variant

Clusters of cases in Fujian, spreading from Putian to Quanzhou and Xiamen, are putting the coastal province to the test, with 135 infections reported within six days. Sixty new infections were reported on Monday – 25 from Putian, 32 from Xiamen and three from Quanzhou.