Two More Parts Of China Report Covid Outbreaks

China on Saturday raced to contain its worst coronavirus outbreak in months as fresh cases were reported in two more parts of the country, including the sprawling megacity of Chongqing.

The highly contagious Delta variant has already been confirmed in the capital Beijing and four other provinces, prompting mass testing and putting more than one million people under lockdown.

More than 200 infections nationwide have been linked to a Delta cluster in eastern Jiangsu province, where cleaners at an airport in the city of Nanjing first tested positive on July 20.

The outbreak is geographically the largest in several months, challenging Beijing's aggressive containment efforts, which have relied on mass testing, lockdowns and swift contact tracing.

The new cases reported on Saturday in Fujian province and Chongqing included one patient who visited the city of Xi'an, Shaanxi province, and an international cargo crew member at Xiamen Airlines who recently travelled from abroad, authorities said.

State media footage showed residents of Chongqing, a municipality that is home to more than 30 million people, queuing up for virus tests.

Authorities in one city district ordered emergency mass testing late on Friday for people who had visited venues linked to confirmed cases.

Nanjing city authorities ordered all tourist attractions and cultural venues not to open on Saturday, prompted by the spike in domestic transmissions.

Hundreds of thousands have already been locked down in Jiangsu province, while Nanjing has tested all 9.2 million residents twice.

China has previously boasted of its success in snuffing out the pandemic within its borders after imposing the world's first virus lockdown in early 2020 as Covid-19 seeped out of Wuhan in the centre of the country.

But an outbreak this month driven by the fast-spreading Delta variant has thrown that record into jeopardy, potentially dampening China's summer tourist season and holiday consumption. (AFP)