Staff members deliver daily necessities to a closed-off community in Chengguan District of Lanzhou City, northwest China's Gansu Province, Oct. 19, 2021.Photo: Xinhua

Over 50 percent of flights and a dozen rail routes were canceled in northern Chinese provinces that have reported COVID-19 infections. China upgraded prevention and control measures after several areas in the country have reported domestically transmitted confirmed cases and asymptomatic patients since Sunday.

Over 50 percent of flights were cancelled across six airports in northern Chinese cities as of Wednesday.

Northwest China's Gansu Province saw over 50 percent of flights canceled in Lanzhou and Zhangye and 90 percent of flights canceled in Jiayuguan as of Wednesday evening, data from flight tracking app VariFlight showed.

All flights planned at Erlianhot and half of the flights at Xilinhot in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region were canceled on Wednesday.

Xi'an, Northwest China's Shaanxi Province was also affected with over 60 percent of flights canceled.

At least 13 rail routes were also canceled in the provinces as of Wednesday.

According to the Lanzhou railway group, four trains bound to northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region departing from Lanzhou were also suspended from Wednesday until the end of the month.

Yinchuan in Northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region announced the cancellation of seven trains leaving for Shanghai, Xi'an, Northwest China's Shaanxi Province, Zhengzhou in Central China's Henan Province and Beijing, starting from Wednesday.

Ejin Banner, in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region has also suspended two railway routes linking to Hohhot, the regional capital.

To effectively prevent the spread of COVID-19, prevention and control measures were implemented following a flurry of new cases.

All scenic spots were closed, and group tours and other travel services were suspended in Lanzhou. Residents who need to leave the city must show their green health codes and a negative nucleic acid test result taken within 48 hours.

On Thursday, China reported 13 new domestically transmitted confirmed cases and seven silent carriers.