China’s Delta variant outbreak: Covid-19 cases rise again in Fujian province ahead of Mid-Autumn Festival

Upcoming Mid-Autumn and National Day holidays put officials on high alert for highly transmissible variant, with travel and mass activities restricted
Children under 12 seen to be a weak link, with school infections a major worry but vaccines as yet unavailable to youngsters

Coronavirus China

Sarah Zhengin Beijing

Published: 12:51pm, 19 Sep 2021

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Covid-19 cases climbed again in Fujian, China’s southeastern province battling the country’s latest outbreak of the pandemic, as local authorities stepped up travel restrictions and suspended mass activities ahead of the upcoming Mid-Autumn Festival.

China as a whole recorded 66 new coronavirus cases on Saturday, with all 43 of the locally transmitted cases found in Fujian – 39 in Xiamen and the rest in Putian – bringing the number of total infections in the province since September 10 to 335.

This reflected an increase from the day before, when authorities reported just 31 new cases, but was still lower than the single-day spike of 61 cases on Thursday.

02:13

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

The country also reported 23 new imported cases, bringing the overall total to 66. Eight other imported cases from earlier counts were recorded as positive for Covid-19 after becoming symptomatic, including three each in the southern Guangxi region and the southwestern province of Sichuan.

The outbreak of the highly transmissible Delta variant has put Chinese officials on high alert, particularly ahead of the Mid-Autumn Festival next week and the National Day holiday in early October.

It has also raised concerns about China’s “zero tolerance” coronavirus strategy – which includes one of the toughest border control systems in the world – after officials said the likely source of the Fujian outbreak may have been infected during his 21-day quarantine period.

Strict measures have been imposed in Fujian to contain the latest outbreak, including calls for residents not to leave their homes unless absolutely necessary. Public areas in Xiamen – including parks, stadiums and tourist sites – have been temporarily closed, and a “closed-loop system” now in place prevents non-residents without certificates from entering residential villages.

In other Fujian cities such as Quanzhou, officials have urged the public not to leave the city, province or country unless absolutely necessary during the Mid-Autumn holiday, and banned large-scale gatherings or parties.

Three linked cases were reported in Quanzhou’s Anxi county on Saturday morning, one of whom had travelled there from Xiamen. All three are being treated at a designated hospital in Xiamen, state broadcaster CCTV reported.

Early on Sunday, Putian also reported an initial positive result from a nucleic acid test for a staff member at its Xiuyu District Hospital, according to local media. The 48-year-old was diagnosed as an asymptomatic Covid-19 case and placed under quarantine for further observation.

Zhang Boli, honorary president of the Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine and academician at the Chinese Academy of Engineering, told local media that, given the stealthy nature of the coronavirus, the latest outbreak in Fujian was discovered relatively late.

Delta outbreak in Fujian puts more than 50 children in hospital isolation

It also showed that children under the age of 12 – who cannot get the Covid-19 vaccine as yet in China – may be a weak point in epidemic control, he said.

“It was first discovered in a school, causing more infections among younger individuals, and the outbreak took place in a rural area where the Covid-19 controls are weaker, which has resulted in this level of transmission,” Zhang told Science and Technology Daily.

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: cases climb again in fujian as holiday curbs stepped up