Jiangsu Governor Wu Zhenglong said on July 27 that Nanjing, the provincial capital, will comprehensively strengthen control measures to contain a recent COVID-19 outbreak, in which the highly contagious delta variant has been detected.

Wu, on a visit to the Nanjing pandemic prevention and control headquarters, said the city's COVID-19 situation is "very severe and complex" as the virus is spreading quickly.

As of July 27, 106 locally transmitted cases had been reported in Nanjing, after staff at Lukou International Airport tested positive for the virus a week ago.

Locally transmitted cases have been reported in eight of the city's 11 districts.

By July 27, Suqian in Jiangsu province, Zhuhai and Zhongshan in Guangdong province, Mianyang and Luzhou in Sichuan province, Shenyang and Dalian in Liaoning province, and Ma'anshan and Wuhu in Anhui province, had all reported locally transmitted cases involving people who had been to Nanjing.

"People's lives will always be a top priority," Wu said. "The resources of Nanjing and the whole province will be mobilized to contain the virus."

Nanjing has shut down long-haul bus services out of the city since July 27. It has also banned all taxis and vehicles used by ride-hailing services from leaving the city. All passengers leaving by train or by car must present negative nucleic acid test results taken within 48 hours.

The city, which has a population of 9.3 million, will launch the third round of testing soon. It had four high-risk areas and 36 medium-risk areas on July 27. Eleven of the medium-risk areas were newly added, Yang said.