China’s Capital to Impose Travel Restrictions as New Covid Outbreak Spreads to 15 Provinces

What’s new: Beijing’s municipal government is set to impose fresh travel bans by restricting visitors from high- or medium-risk areas in China by suspending inbound flights, trains and long-distance buses from areas where Covid-19 cases have been reported, including the cities of Nanjing and Zhengzhou.

As of Monday, Beijing has reported four confirmed cases and one asymptomatic case, city government spokesperson Xu Hejian said at a press briefing, without specifying the date that the travel ban will take effect.

The background: The latest round of outbreaks have caused infections in 15 provinces and municipalities, of which 12 are linked to a flare-up of the delta variant of the coronavirus that began spreading in earnest in Nanjing, capital of East China's Jiangsu province.

The Nanjing outbreak was first identified on July 20 when nine workers at Nanjing Lukou International Airport tested positive for Covid-19. Officials later said the outbreak originated from a passenger flight from Russia.

On Monday, China reported 98 new confirmed cases (link in Chinese) in the mainland for the previous day, according to the National Health Commission. Of the new infections, 55 were local cases.

More than 1.66 billion doses (link in Chinese) of Covid-19 vaccines had been administered across the country as of Sunday, according to the health authority.

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Gallery: Nanjing Tackles Covid Outbreak Head On

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

Contact reporter Kelsey Cheng (kelseycheng@caixin.com) and editor Michael Bellart (michaelbellart@caixin.com)

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