Health

China logs 81 new local coronavirus infections amid Delta variant outbreak

Beijing, Aug 8 (EFE).- The Chinese health authorities Sunday said they have detected 81 local infections of the coronavirus among the 96 new cases registered over the past day.

The National Health Commission of China said 38 people tested positive for the virus in the eastern province of Jiangsu, the epicenter a new outbreak.

Among the infected people were 15 travelers from abroad, who tested positive in Shanghai, Yunnan, Canton, and Sichuan.

Three suspected cases were also detected in Shanghai.

The commission said no death related to the disease was registered on Saturday, but there were five new cases of seriously ill patients.

The outbreak, first detected at the Nanking International Airport, the capital of the eastern Jiangsu province, has prompted the authorities to impose restrictions and selective confinements in the areas with more caseloads.

The official Global Times reported that authorities have “punished” a total of 15 officials in Nanjing, including a vice mayor and the head of the local health commission.

“Disciplinary actions” were taken against six senior officials for their alleged failure to contain the outbreak at the airport that has spread to many places across the country.

Nine officials were “disciplined” for ineffective epidemic prevention and control work at the airport, Global Times said.

The punishments on Saturday follow an investigation into the ineffective epidemic prevention and control at the airport, the newspaper reported.

The Nanjing airport is seen as the transmission source of the recent outbreaks of the highly-infectious Delta variant that has spread to over 20 cities across China.

Airports and customs in China have implemented stricter measures to prevent the spread.

The Beijing Daxing International Airport announced Saturday that it would suspend flight routes from 15 cities, including Nanjing, Yangzhou, and Zhangjiajie.

The total number of active cases in mainland China has now reached 1,507.

The disease has killed 4,636 people in the country, to data from the commission showed. EFE

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