COVID-19 pandemic: Outpatient care in China's Nanjing suspended due to new outbreak

Hospitals in Nanjing city of the coastal Chinese province Jiangsu has suspended outpatient appointments as the country is facing a resurgence of COVID-19 cases.

As many as 11 new coronavirus cases were confirmed in Nanjing in the past 24 hours. As of Sunday, a total of 215 local COVID-19 cases had been confirmed in the city.

The Russian news agency Sputnik reported that Nanjing hospitals will now only be allowed to provide emergency assistance to those in need and all other appointments are being cancelled. The city authorities did not specify when the outpatient care will resume at hospitals.

Last week, health officials in Nanjing had said that the current virus outbreak in the city likely resulted from infected patients who arrived from Moscow in July. Local media reported new infection cases have been reported in over 20 other Chinese cities that could be traced back to the new outbreak in Nanjing.

As the new COVID-19 cases have been reported in at least 18 Chinese provinces, experts in the country have raised alarm due to the latest outbreak in the country fuelled by the spread of the Delta variant.

Chinese public health officials on Sunday said the ongoing outbreak is the most serious one since the initial outbreak in Wuhan, Global Times reported. The experts said more efforts are needed to plug the loopholes in the infection control work while stressing the need to advance the mass vaccination drive.

Epidemiologists in the country evaluated that the latest outbreaks are still in the early stages and insist that the situation is under control. However, disease specialist has expressed concern over the latest outbreak in Zhangjiajie city.

(ANI)