Air China Johannesburg Flight Suspended Over Covid Delta Cases

What new: A total of 32 passengers on a June 10 flight from Johannesburg to the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen tested positive for Covid-19, prompting a suspension of the flight by Air China for four weeks.

The passengers were found to be infected with the wildly transmissible Delta variant of the Covid-19 virus, which was first detected in India.

The cases were reported in three batches, with the first four cases confirmed June 11, the day after the flight arrived at Shenzhen. The same airplane then flew from Shenzhen to Beijing. So far there have been no cases reported in Beijing.

The background: The outbreak followed a flare-up of coronavirus cases in the adjacent city of Guangzhou in early June. The city imposed lockdowns and conducted mass testing after detecting 147 new cases. The Guangzhou outbreak was also believed to be driven by the Delta variant.

As of Tuesday, Shanghai, Jiangsu and Sichuan reported six confirmed cases, all imported, according to the National Health Commission.

Quick Takes are condensed versions of China-related stories for fast news you can use. To read the full story in Chinese, click here.

Contact reporter Denise Jia (huijuanjia@caixin.com) and editor Bob Simison (bobsimison@caixin.com)

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