A medical worker takes a swab sample from a woman for COVID-19 nucleic acid test in Nanjing, east China's Jiangsu Province, Aug. 5, 2021. Nanjing launched a fifth round of nucleic acid testing in some areas of the city on Thursday.Photo:Xinhua

The recent COVID-19 outbreak at Nanjing Lukou International Airport triggered by the Delta variant was the most severe and caused the most infections in China since the outbreak in Wuhan, Central China's Hubei Province in 2019, according to the National Health Commission (NHC). 

Since two domestic infections were reported in Nanjing, East China's Jiangsu Province, on July 20, the current resurgence of the domestic outbreak has spread into 16 provinces with 1,272 cases, according to media reports. The cases were linked to places such as Nanjing Lukou airport, a chess and poker room in Yangzhou, a city about 100 kilometers from Nanjing, and Zhangjiajie in Central China's Hunan Province. 

Nanjing has been reporting zero domestic confirmed cases for 10 days as of Wednesday and the Nanjing Lukou airport resumed flight services starting from Thursday morning after it halted all services on July 23. 

Also, a group of experts led by the State Council epidemic prevention and control mechanism working team dispatched to Nanjing on July 23 withdrew on Thursday, after they had guided the local epidemic prevention and control work, conducted massive nucleic acid testing and investigated the origins of the outbreak as well as the transmission path, the NHC said. 

The outbreak at Nanjing Lukou International Airport was caused by the import of the Delta variant strain into China, the NHC said in a statement on Thursday. 

In the latest outbreak, two-thirds of the cases were in Jiangsu with 818 infections, and the rest were in Central China's Henan, Hunan and Hubei provinces.

The facts show that the anti-epidemic measures and experiences accumulated since last year can help confront the Delta variant, the NHC said, noting that authorities still need to improve anti-epidemic measures as well as technologies to deal with imported cases and any potential domestic resurgence. 

Global Times