Fresh COVID curbs imposed in China's Putian amid outbreak among school students

A new outbreak of COVID-19 has been linked to a primary school in Fujian province in China. According to the BBC, the infection may have been caused by a student's father, who tested positive last week. After more than 100 cases were discovered in four days, Fujian authorities demanded that all teachers and students be tested within a week. The current outbreak comes a month after China suppressed the largest outbreak since Wuhan in Nanjing. According to the BBC, the city of Putian in Fujian province, which has a population of roughly three million people, appears to be one of the hardest hit. 

The student's father is suspected of being the source of the outbreak, as he tested positive for the virus on September 10th, 38 days after returning from Singapore on August 4th. According to a story in the state-run Global Times newspaper, he spent 21 days in quarantine and underwent nine nucleic acid and serologic tests, all of which came negative. According to the BBC, it's unclear whether the student's father was infected overseas, given the unusually extended incubation time. 

Schools have been shut, and everyone leaving Putian must show documentation of a negative COVID test taken within the last 48 hours. According to the BBC, restaurants have been ordered to curtail their operating hours, while public institutions such as theatres, museums, and libraries have been told to cease indoor activities. The surrounding cities of Xiamen and Quanzhou have also been affected, with gyms and pubs in Xiamen being closed.

On Monday, 32 viral cases were discovered in Xiamen, most of which were linked to Putian. Primary research, according to the Global Times, indicates that the cases are of the Delta variant. The cases come ahead of a week-long National Day celebration on October 1, dubbed Golden Week, during which millions of people will travel around the country. 

China administers more than two billion doses of vaccines

According to the Xinhua news agency, China had provided more than two billion doses of coronavirus vaccines as of Sunday, enough to fully vaccinate about 70% of the country's population. However, most small children are still unvaccinated, raising fears that the latest Fujian outbreak would disproportionately affect the country's most vulnerable citizens.

Image: Twitter/@ChinaEmbSL