BEIJING – China reported no new locally transmitted cases of COVID-19 on Monday for the first time since July, a sign the current outbreak may be waning amid Beijing’s ‘zero-tolerance’ stance and tough anti-virus measures across the country.
More than 1,200 people have been confirmed infected in an outbreak that officials said has been mainly driven by the highly transmissible Delta variant, which was brought in from abroad and caused a cluster in late July in the eastern city of Nanjing.
No deaths have been reported in the outbreak.
But it spurred authorities across the country to impose counter-epidemic measures including mass testing for millions of people to identify and isolate carriers, as well as travel restrictions of varying degrees. Economists have said they expect to see those steps cutting into growth in the world’s second-biggest economy in the quarter ending September.
Across China, new daily local cases fell to the single-digit level last week, after peaking in early August, Reuters reported.
Since the weekend, authorities have lifted lockdowns in a few areas in Beijing, as well as in the cities Wuhan and Jingmen in central Hubei province, after these cities had sealed up some areas to contain the virus. Sichuan has allowed travel agencies to resume tours to outside the province, barring places still deemed of risk.
By contrast, Shanghai placed hundreds of people under quarantine over the weekend after some fresh infections were reported, sparking concerns of a fresh outbreak in the city. Still, Shanghai reported no new local infections for Aug. 22.
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