Delta Explosion: Great Fear in China

Local media headlines have been dominated by news of the explosion and the country's leading respiratory specialist is said to have expressed great concern.

The government has imposed new travel restrictions and is testing millions of citizens, the BBC writes.

It is not clear how many citizens have been entirely vaccinated in China, though authorities say more than 1.6 billion doses have been administered so far.

A total of 15 provinces and municipalities have now confirmed cases with Delta, of which 12 are linked to an explosion that started in Nanjing in China's eastern province of Jiangsu. Authorities have attributed the spread to the Delta version and the local tourist season.

Although the number of cases is apparently lower than other countries, it is considered the largest explosion in recent months in China, a country that was largely successful in controlling the virus within its borders last year.

The cases appeared for the first time in July at Nanjing Airport, among employees who had cleared a plane that arrived from Russia, reports the TCH.

Authorities immediately tested 9.2 million inhabitants of Nanjing and imposed closures on hundreds of thousands of people.

But over the weekend, attention was turned into the popular Zagjiaj tourist destination in the central province of Hunan, where many of the recent cases have emerged.