New COVID wave likely came from abroad, expert says

The recent COVID-19 epidemic resurgence that hit various regions and resulted in 106 infections in 13 tour groups is believed to have come from overseas, health official said on Sunday.

"Most of the cases reported in the new wave are Delta variant and related with tourism. The origin of the virus is still under investigation," said Wu Liangyou, deputy head of the National Health Commission's disease control and prevention division.

"The new resurgence develops fast with cases not related to those tour groups emerging and growing," he said at a news conference held by State Council's Joint Prevention and Control Mechanism, a mechanism founded in response to the COVID-19 public health emergency.

He said new cases will continue to increase in the next few days and hit more areas.

So far, the new wave has hit 11 provinces and regions, including Inner Mongolia autonomous region, Ningxia Hui autonomous region, Shaanxi, Yunnan and Guizhou provinces.

Expert teams have been dispatched to Gansu, Inner Mongolia, Ningxia and Shaanxi, according to Wu.

In order to prevent the disease from expanding, public transportation services in the regions with new infections have been strictly controlled, said Zhou Min, deputy director of Ministry of Transport's emergency control office.

In medium and high-risk regions, public transportation to and from the outside places has been suspended. Zhou said public services within those regions will remain under strict health surveillance.