Nanjing Launches Fourth Round of Mass Covid Testing

What’s new: The eastern city of Nanjing has launched within two weeks a fourth round of nucleic acid testing in parts of the city, in an effort to contain a surge of local Covid-19 infections caused by the more transmissible delta variant, according to a statement released by local health authorities on Monday.

The latest round of testing, covering 58 neighborhoods in nine districts, will last until the end of Tuesday (link in Chinese), the statement said. The drive is focusing on these areas after disease prevention and control experts analyzed results from the previous rounds of testing and assessed the growth of local clusters.

Residents in the city’s Jiangbei New Area, Pukou district and Liuhe district will not be tested.

The background: With nearly 10 million population, Jiangsu province's capital city has concluded three rounds of mass testing on all of its residents since the local outbreak first emerged at Nanjing Lukou International Airport where nine workers tested positive for Covid-19 on July 20.

The city reported 11 new confirmed cases on Sunday, bringing the total tally of confirmed patients in the latest local outbreak to 215, according to the local health commission.

Quick Takes are condensed versions of China-related stories for fast news you can use.

Contact reporter Cai Xuejiao (xuejiaocai@caixin.com) and editor Heather Mowbray (heathermowbray@caixin.com)

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