By Grace Udofia
The Peoples Republic of China have tightened travel restrictions in the country as parts of measures to contain the outbreak of the new delta variant of the coronavirus.
The country is currently experiencing its worst outbreak months after it was successfully able to tackle Covid-19 which was first recorded in one of its cities Wuhan in 2020.
According to one of its top infectious disease expert, the latest outbreak has affected over 400 people across 25 cities including the country’s capital, Beijing.
He also added that the delta variant cases have been reported in 17 of the 31 province in the country.
According to him, while China has seen several outbreaks since mid-2020, the authorities have contained them through mass testing drives of entire cities, strict localised lockdowns and targeted travel restrictions.
The National Health Commission in China noted that 71 locally transmitted cases were confirmed being the highest of its daily count since January.
The Governments of all 31 province has advised residents not to leave as flights are cancelled and Beijing suspends more than a dozen rail lines.
They also appealed to residents to avoid leaving their regions except it is unavoidable as well as staying away from high risk zones in order to minimise the further transmission Delta variant.
Residential areas including those homes to more than 10,000 people in Beijing have been sealed off for mass testing, as well as the commencement of massive testing for all 11 million residents in Wuhan.
