Chinese Media Mum on Details About COVID-19 Outbreak at International Airport

Chinese Media Mum on Details About COVID-19 Outbreak at International Airport
China's Hainan Airlines at Haikou airport in south China's Hainan Srovince on June 12, 2014. AFP via Getty Images
Frank Yue
Updated:

An eastern China metropolis has reported a resurgence of the CCP virus, which causes COVID-19, at a city airport, according to Chinese state media outlets. While media provided scant details, local residents say that all the diagnosed cases are of airport employees.

Authorities in Nanjing city, capital of eastern China’s Jiangsu Province, reported 22 domestic CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus infections as of 1 p.m. on July 22. The affected airport is Nanjing Lukou International.

The outbreak triggered citywide nucleic-acid testing, even as Nanjing having achieved a high vaccination rate. Local authorities have provided residents with no further details.

Groups such as Doctors Against Forced Organ Harvesting have accused the CCP of using a “deception protocol“ in covering up outbreaks.

Outbreak Specifics Unavailable

A Nanjing resident surnamed Zhong spoke to the Chinese Epoch Times about the local situation on July 22. He said that no specifics had been given and that some flight attendants were infected.

“Currently, there are seven or eight of them who are asymptomatic,” he said.

He said that all flights had been canceled and all passengers who were in the airport at that time had to return to where they came from and enter quarantine.

Zhong’s concern was greater because CCP virus cases have spiked due to more transmissible new variants.

Another resident, surnamed Zhao, confirmed the flight cancellations and delays when speaking to the Chinese Epoch Times.

A staffer at the local Atour Hotel said on July 21 that the Lukou airport is now designated as a high-risk area. Entering the area is impossible without 48-hour proof of a nucleic-acid test and a flight ticket.

“Rooms cannot be booked until after 14 days. Our hotel now only accommodates armed airport police, agents on special missions, and health care workers,” the hotel employee said.

The only instructions he and the rest of the staff were given was to “wait for further notice.”

Chinese Vaccines Efficacy

The resurgence of CCP virus cases has fueled suspicion about the efficacy of Chinese-made vaccines. Shots were administered in Nanjing on a large scale before the end of June, including secondary inoculations.

Chinese authorities have boasted about the quality of their domestic vaccines and exported them to southeast Asian and African countries.

However, a medical expert, Yang Yi, revealed in a July 22 interview with a Chinese media outlet that all recently diagnosed patients in Nanjing had received Chinese-made shots, except for minors under 18. Yang serves as the head of the Department of Critical Care Medicine at the local Zhongda Hospital, an affiliation of the nationally high-ranked Southeast University.

Recently, Southeast Asian countries that had widely administered Chinese vaccines have been turning to Western countries to diversify their vaccine portfolios. Countries include Indonesia and Thailand, where confirmed infections have skyrocketed, as well as Malaysia, the Philippines, and Vietnam.
Frank Yue
Frank Yue
Author
Frank Yue is a Canada-based journalist for The Epoch Times who covers China-related news. He also holds an M.A. in English language and literature from Tianjin Foreign Studies University, China.
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