China sounds alarm as Delta variant spreads to 18 provinces

Beijing, August 1

The highly contagious Delta variant of the Covid-19 has raised major concerns in China as it spread to 18 provinces with fresh cases emerging in capital Beijing on Sunday.

At least 18 provinces in China have sounded alarm about virus as more than 300 domestic cases were detected in 10 days, posing great challenges to the country as it deals with the worst epidemic in months, official media reported.

At least 27 cities in 18 provinces reported more than 300 confirmed cases in recent days, including Beijing, Jiangsu and Sichuan, state-run Global Times reported on Sunday.

The number of medium and high-risk regions across the country rose to 95 on Sunday, of which 91 are medium-risk regions and four are high-risk regions, including Dehong Prefecture of Yunnan, Nanjing of Jiangsu and Zhengzhou of Henan, the report said.

Capital city Beijing reported two new Covid-19 confirmed and one asymptomatic cases on Sunday, a spokesperson said at a press briefing.

The three are all family members who returned from Zhangjiajie, a tourist destination in South China’s Hunan Province with recent outbreaks.

The Beijing Centre for Disease Control (CDC) tested the confirmed patients on Thursday and the result shows they all contracted the contagious Delta variant. — PTI