China says it has brought down COVID-19 cases to zero within a month of reporting a cluster of infections among airport cleaning staff in the eastern city of Nanjing on July 20.

Authorities conducted 100 million tests and imposed sweeping measures such as quarantines to curb the spread of Delta variant in nearly 50 cities across 17 provinces, Bloomberg reported. Cases were also reported from Wuhan, which had been COVID-free for over a year. Capital city Beijing was sealed off from other places over a single case and authorities also cut off trains and flights from COVID hotspots around the country.

Other regions barred entry for people from over 200 neighborhoods that were labeled high risk or medium risk. People were asked to cut short vacations and remain isolated at home before returning to work and school.

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The first case of the latest outbreak was an asymptomatic infection at the airport in Nanjing on July 20. Authorities reported almost 50 cases by the end of the week across more than 1,000 kilometers. But, as daily cases shot up to more than 100 in less than three weeks across half of the nation, Chinese authorities were able to limit the tally to single digits the next week amid tightening curbs.

Previous outbreaks including one at the beginning of 2021 of some 2,000 COVID cases were also brought under control in about a month in stark contrast to the repeated lockdowns imposed in Australian cities without much success. China was also able to avoid fatalities during the latest outbreak despite 18 critical cases in the viral hotspot of Jiangsu province at one point.

The stringent containment measures, however, also took a toll on the world’s second largest economy with consumption and manufacturing slowing down in July and expected to slow down further in August

Other regions barred entry for people from over 200 neighborhoods that were labeled high risk or medium risk. People were asked to cut short vacations and remain isolated at home before returning to work and school.

The first case of the latest outbreak was an asymptomatic infection at the airport in Nanjing on July 20. Authorities reported almost 50 cases by the end of the week across more than 1,000 kilometers. But, as daily cases shot up to more than 100 in less than three weeks across half of the nation, Chinese authorities were able to limit the tally to single digits the next week amid tightening curbs.

Previous outbreaks including one at the beginning of 2021 of some 2,000 COVID cases were also brought under control in about a month in stark contrast to the repeated lockdowns imposed in Australian cities without much success. China was also able to avoid fatalities during the latest outbreak despite 18 critical cases in the viral hotspot of Jiangsu province at one point.

The stringent containment measures, however, also took a toll on the world’s second largest economy with consumption and manufacturing slowing down in July and expected to slow down further in August