New COVID-19 outbreak in China, people line up for tests

China’s new Covid-19 infections will increase in coming days and the areas affected by the epidemic may continue to expand, a health official said.

The current outbreak in China is caused by the delta variant from overseas, Wu Liangyou, an official at the National Health Commission, said at a briefing in Beijing Sunday.

The wave of infections spread to 11 provinces in the week from Oct. 17, Mi Feng, spokesman for the commission, said at the briefing. Most of the people infected have cross-region travel histories, Mi said. He urged areas that have been affected by the pandemic to adopt “emergency mode.”

Some cities in the provinces of Gansu — including its capital Lanzhou — and Inner Mongolia have halted bus and taxi services because of the virus, according to Zhou Min, an official at the transport ministry.

Ejina, a county in the western part of Inner Mongolia, asked all residents and travelers to stay indoors starting Monday to contain the spread of coronavirus, the local government said in a statement.

China reported 26 new local confirmed Covid-19 infections on Saturday, including seven in Inner Mongolia, six in Gansu, six in Ningxia, four in Beijing, one in Hebei, one in Hunan and one in Shaanxi, according to the National Health Commission. Another four local asymptomatic cases were reported in Hunan and Yunnan.