Delta variant cases rise in Wuhan, flights and trains in and out of city halted

According to NPR, authorities have ordered mass testing of the city's around 11 million residents, with residents panic buying necessities at nearby stores before going back into lockdown.

The Delta variant outbreak in China began last month, with 328 new locally transmitted cases since last month, according to the People's Daily.

According to the Associated Press, more than 35 cities in half of the country's provinces and regions have experienced new infections.

On Tuesday, Wuhan city official Li Tao said at a news conference the mass testing was a precautionary measure.

The aggressive reaction from health authorities for a comparatively small outbreak comes as an effort to prevent another mass outbreak like early last year.

"Viral genome sequencing found all the strains to be the highly infectious Delta variant and cities hit by the recent resurgence have promptly taken action to curb the spread of the coronavirus," stated the People's Daily.

According to the South China Morning Post, the city of Yangzhou in Jiangsu province has had the highest daily count of new infections in the country, reporting 40 confirmed cases there and in Nanjing on Monday.

In Zhangjiajie in Hunan province, locals and tourists were ordered to stay inside the city and cooperate with epidemic control measures as the city confirms 12 local cases, according to the Global Times.

According to authorities, 1.6 billion doses of a China-made vaccine have been administered to the population so far.