Several cities in mainland China reported local COVID-19 infections on Wednesday, all related to the latest outbreak in Nanjing City in Jiangsu Province. But mass testing of more than 3 million residents in Zhuhai, which borders Macau, produced only negative results.
This latest COVID-19 scare comes after several positive cases were detected among staff, mostly cleaners, at Nanjing Lukou International Airport last week, confirmed to be the highly contagious Delta variant.
The virus quickly spread to Nanjing city as well as other cities in Jiangsu Province, but in recent days has been detected across the mainland, including in Chengdu City in Sichuan Province, Zhangjiajie City in Hunan Province, and Shenyang city and Dalian city in Liaoning Province. Over 100 people have tested positive so far.
Zhuhai also announced a local infection on Monday, a man who arrived in Zhuhai from Nanjing last week. The Zhuhai government subsequently required all residents to receive virus tests but all 3,247,600 results came back negative on Wednesday.
Macau has announced mandatory hotel quarantine for any individuals who have been in several areas of Nanjing city and Suqian City in Jiangsu Province, or areas in Yunan Province, Liaoning Province and Sichuan Province. Around 150 people have been quarantined so far due to having visited Nanjing Lukou International Airport since 14 July.