Photo: Xinhua

More cities on Saturday strengthened their prevention measures as the latest outbreak in Nanjing spreads to nearly 20 cities across at least six provinces including Central China's Anhui, Southwest China's Sichuan, Northeast China's Liaoning as well as Beijing. 

As of 1 pm on Saturday, there are 30 medium-risk areas in Nanjing, East China's Jiangsu Province, while China has two high-risk areas and 63 medium-risk areas as a whole. 

Local authorities will conduct an overall 10-day disinfection plan for the whole airport, as well as residence of the airport staff, said officials from local health department in Nanjing at a press briefing on Saturday.

Nanjing has closed outdoor areas of tourist attractions since Saturday while continuing to close indoor areas of the city's cultural and entertaining venues.

Nanjing reported 6 new coronavirus cases on Friday, bringing city's overall number of confirmed COVID-19 cases to 190 amid the latest flare up since July 20. A flight from Russia was identified as the source of the latest round of the COVID-19 infections in the city.

Many places have upgraded epidemic prevention and control measures, and scenic spots have taken measures to close, suspend business or restrict traffic.

International airports in Yangzhou and Taizhou in East China's Jiangsu Province suspended passenger services.

Cities of Hangzhou, Wenzhou and Wuhan also issued urgent alerts, advising residents to avoid traveling outside the province.

The city of Zhengzhou, Central China's Henan Province, quickly initiated a massive nucleic acid testing after one asymptomatic coronavirus positive case was reported on Friday and more suspected infectious cases were screened out.

All scenic spots in Zhangjiajie, Central China's Hunan Province, were closed since Friday morning. Another city, Zhuzhou in Huanan suspended the opening of all religious and entertainment sites. The city of Changde will keep the flow of tourists within 30 percent of upper limit at tourist attractions.

The number of affected cities in Central China's Hunan Province is increasing. 

A new confirmed COVID-19 case was reported on Friday in Xiangtan, which was preliminarily determined to be related to the confirmed case in Sichuan Province. Another coronavirus positive case was reported in Yiyang on Friday and was preliminarily identified as a close contact of the confirmed case in Beijing.

Compared to previous rounds of domestic virus resurgences that were usually limited to one city or a few nearby cities, the Nanjing outbreak occurred at a busy international airport, and trans-regional passengers traveling for long distances soon spread the virus across the country to more places, experts noted.

The latest outbreak, described as the most extensive domestic contagion after Wuhan, has dampened the mood for the upcoming summer vocations and prompted stricter control measures in places with sporadic cases. 

Global Times