Chinese manufacturing hub fights its first 2021 COVID-19 outbreak

Major Chinese manufacturing province Zhejiang is fighting its first COVID-19 cluster this year, with tens of thousands of citizens in quarantine and virus-hit areas suspending business operations, cutting flights and cancelling events. The province reported 74 locally transmitted cases with confirmed symptoms on Dec. 12, official data showed on Monday, almost double the previous day's 38 cases, lifting to 173 the total since the province started to report cases for the latest outbreak. The outbreak in three Zhejiang cities - Ningbo, Shaoxing and Hangzhou - was developing at a "relatively rapid" speed, while the situation nationwide was largely stable, National Health Commission official Wu Liangyou said on Saturday. Before the current outbreak, Zhejiang - home to a legion of small and medium-sized enterprises, many of which are exporters - reported only one local case in 2021. Flights leaving Ningbo Lishe International Airport to Shenzhen city were suspended from Sunday, while flights to Beijing were cancelled from Dec. 6. Only one daily flight from Hangzhou to China's capital is allowed. More than 50,000 people in Zhejiang have been quarantined at centralised facilities and nearly half a million people's health condition were monitored, a province health official said on Monday. The coastal province has a population of 64.6m. Zhejiang has ordered travel agencies to suspend organising tourism trips linking the province and other areas and has also halted province-level sports events.<br/>