Chinese health authorities reported 68 confirmed cases of COVID-19 on Monday, July 27. This is the highest case count on the Chinese mainland since April. Of the total, 64 cases were domestically transmitted and 57 were in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. A further six domestically transmitted cases were reported in Liaoning and one in Beijing.
All of the 57 new infections in Xinjiang were located in the regional capital, Urumqi. Xinhua said that 8,809 people are currently under medical observation in Xinjiang, as of Monday. The city is offering free nucleic acid tests to all residents of Urumqi to contain the outbreak. Twenty-four nucleic acid testing agencies and 10 medical teams from other provinces have been sent to Urumqi to help maintain the outbreak, according to Global Times.
Image via @DS北风/Weibo
Health officials in Dalian, Liaoning province announced on Monday morning that 1.68 million residents had provided samples for nucleic acid testing. China Daily reports that any passengers leaving Dalian by boat, plane, train or bus must show proof of a negative test result and all 99 passenger bus routes to the three northern sub-cities have been suspended.
In order to prevent the outbreak from spreading into suburban Dalian, taxis and other ride-hailing services were also forbidden from servicing Wafangdian, Pulandian and Zhuanghe – the three cities included in the greater Dalian municipal area.
Among the two new cases reported in Beijing, one was imported and the other was locally transmitted, but could be traced back to the ongoing outbreak in Liaoning, according to the Beijing Municipal Health Commission.
Before July 27, it appeared that Beijing had successfully contained the COVID-19 outbreak at Xinfadi market, which hospitalized 355 people from June 11. No new locally transmitted cases had been reported in Beijing for 22 days prior to Monday.
Hong Kong continues to struggle with its most severe wave of the outbreak to date. Following a six consecutive days of more than 100 cases, Hong Kong broke the previous single-day record with 145 new confirmed infections on Monday.
Editor’s Note (July 29, 2020 2.21pm CST): The title and text have been modified to show that the case count reported on Monday was the highest since April.
READ MORE: Rising COVID-19 Cases in China Lead to Extensive Testing
[Cover image via @CCTV/Weibo]
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