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Holly Chik

Xinlu Liang

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.

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.


“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”.

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.


“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.


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

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

TOPSHOT - This aerial photo taken on June 20, 2021 shows people walking on a glass-bottomed skywalk in Zhangjiajie, in China's central Hunan province. (Photo by STR / AFP) / China OUT

TOPSHOT - This picture taken on November 13, 2020 shows shows an aerial view of the Bailong elevators in Zhangjiajie, China's Hunan province. - Towering more than 300 metres (1,000 feet) up the cliff face that inspired the landscape for the blockbuster movie "Avatar", the world's highest outdoor lift whisks brave tourists to breathtaking views. (Photo by WANG ZHAO / AFP) / TO GO WITH: China technology film tourism transport, by Ludovic EHRET

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

Checks are made at a temporary laboratory used for Covid-19 testing in Nanjing, Jiangsu province. A cluster at the airport is believed to have led to cases elsewhere in Nanjing as well as in other Chinese cities. Photo: AFP

(210729) -- NANJING, July 29, 2021 (Xinhua) -- A medical worker registers information of residents at a nucleic acid testing spot in Nanjing, capital of east China's Jiangsu Province, July 29, 2021. Nanjing, a mega-city with a population of more than 9.3 million in eastern China, launched the third round of all-inclusive nucleic acid testing campaign on Wednesday, according to the municipal COVID-19 prevention and control headquarters. The citywide testing covers all residents, including those who are paying a short visit to the city. (Xinhua/Li Bo)

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An Israeli girl receives a dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine from the Magen David Adom during a campaign by the Tel Aviv-Yafo Municipality to encourage the vaccination of teenagers, on July 5, 2021, in Tel Aviv. - Israel is now urging more 12- to 15-year-olds to be vaccinated, citing new outbreaks attributed to the more infectious Delta variant. (Photo by JACK GUEZ / AFP)

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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



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 show.


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Coronavirus China