China Thinks Latest COVID-19 Is Over

The worst outbreak of coronavirus in China for a year has largely been brought under control, health authorities claimed, despite the lockdown of one major port due to the spike in COVID-19 cases, Deutsche Presse-Agentur (dpa) reported.

Photo Insert: This was the worst outbreak in China after a year.

The risk of another nationwide spread is "comparatively low," said He Qinghua of the Health Commission, according to state media. In the latest outbreak of the highly contagious delta variant, some 1,280 infections were detected in 48 cities in 18 provinces and regions, he said.

To date, 777 million Chinese have been fully vaccinated. Over 1.83 billion vaccine doses have been administered. But there are questions about how effective the Chinese vaccines are against the Delta variant.

However, 36 cities had not detected any new cases in the past five days, the health official said. The outbreak had put China's strict zero COVID-19 strategy to the test. Authorities responded with curfews, disruption of transportation links, travel restrictions, mass testing, and quarantine.

The outbreak had been traced to the infection of three airport workers in Nanjing in July while cleaning a plane from Russia. The world's most populous country, where coronavirus was first detected in December 2019, had largely kept the virus under control since last year.

China has largely closed itself off from foreign countries. Entry into the country is severely restricted. Everyone must spend two to three weeks in a quarantine facility upon arrival. The number of foreigners working in China has dropped sharply.

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