A total of 11 provincial-level regions have been affected within a week as a fresh outbreak of COVID-19 emerged in China, a spokesperson with the National Health Commission or NHC said on Sunday.
Sporadic cases reported in various regions have been increasing ever since Oct 17, Mi Feng, spokesperson for the NHC, told a press conference.
Most of the cases have inter-region travel histories, increasing the risk of virus transmission to other regions, Mi said.
The spokesperson called for tightened anti-epidemic response against the new outbreak.
It is increasingly likely that COVID-19 will spread further in China after its recent resurgence, Mi Feng, as authorities urged all regions to step up monitoring and reduce travel and gatherings across the country.
"Most cases reported in the recent wave are of the Delta variant, which is highly transmissible," said Wu Liangyou, deputy director of NHC's Disease Prevention and Control Bureau. Sequencing showed the virus strain to be different from the source of an earlier outbreak in the country, suggesting that the new cases are attributable to a new source from abroad, he added.
So far, the new wave has hit 11 provinces and regions, including the Northwest China's Ningxia Hui autonomous region, North China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region, Northwest China's Gansu and Shaanxi provinces, and Beijing. Most of the reported cases are in Gansu and Inner Mongolia.
Inner Mongolia reported 19 locally transmitted cases, highest among the 35 cases confirmed on Oct 24.
All residents and tourists in Ejin Banner, Alxa League, Inner Mongolia will be under home quarantine for COVID-19 starting from Oct 25, a notice from the local authorities said. One community in Ejin Banner was also upgraded to a high-risk area last week.
Authorities have banned travel agencies from arranging cross-provincial tourism activities in regions that contain medium- or high-risk areas.
The capital Beijing has also tightened entry restrictions as people from cities that have positive cases are advised not to travel to Beijing if it's not urgent, local authorities said at a presser on Oct 24.
China is giving booster shots to adults whose last dose was at least six months ago, with priority groups including essential workers, the elderly and those with weaker immune systems.
