The city of Xiamen, a manufacturing hub for electronic components in China’s southeastern province of Fujian, is under a lockdown after a dozen COVID-19 cases were detected. Fujian reported 103 cases in three cities as of Tuesday. The first cases were found in two students from local schools whose father returned from overseas in early August.
The city’s residents were prohibited from leaving except for very important circumstances. Neighbourhoods, villages, kindergarten, and schools were closed off, while leisure venues such as bars, gyms, cinemas, and libraries suspended operations. All bus routes to other provinces were halted to cut the risk of transmission. Xiamen has also initiated mass testing in some parts of the city and plans to test all of its residents.
Health experts warned of a “spillover risk” in the latest outbreak. The city of Putian, which is the epicentre of the current outbreak in Fujian, are likely to find more cases in residential compounds, factories, and schools, they said. Local media reported that since late August, about 30,000 people had left Putian for other provinces, but no outside cases have yet been detected.
