Coronavirus outbreak paralyses airport in China
A year and a half after the first case of coronavirus was reported in China on 31 December 2019, the Asian country is still experiencing the ravages of COVID-19. China, which, by imposing one of the harshest containments at the beginning of the pandemic, managed to control the transmission of the virus and become one of the countries that had best curbed the spread of the virus, is still unable to completely eliminate the coronavirus.
Moreover, the Asian giant continues to restrict the arrival of foreigners at its borders and sets very demanding security parameters for border crossings. Despite all the trouble the Chinese government has taken to prevent further outbreaks associated with COVID-19, Nanjing Lukou International Airport has had to cancel flights due to a coronavirus outbreak.
Seventeen workers at the airport in Nanjing, capital of the eastern Chinese province of Jiangsu, have tested positive for COVID-19, leading to massive flight cancellations and delays. As a result of this outbreak, the local authorities have carried out a mass screening of the local population.
Finally, the Global Times has learned that four residential communities and villages near the airport have been upgraded to medium-risk zones, and streets affected by the epidemic near the airport have been sealed off.
According to a government statement, nine of the cases involved airport cleaners, who were detected during regular testing of staff working at the airport. As a result, around 700 inbound and outbound flights were affected.
Health measures will also be tightened. The airport itself has announced that all passengers must have a PCR certificate with negative results within 48 hours of leaving or entering Nanjing, and temperature controls will be tightened. China has boasted that it is one of the few countries that has managed to reduce the incidence of the virus to a minimum and has been able to restore much of the life we knew before the pandemic.
The blockade of Nanjing Lukou International Airport shows that the virus knows no borders or restrictions and refuses to go away.