According to local authorities, all new cases were reported in Shufu County in south Xinjiang’s Kashgar Prefecture.
However, the source of infection of the first case or patient zero is still unknown. Experts say, more contact tracing is required in determining the route of transmission since the first case had no travel history. As of now, rate of transmission is high.
Authorities have raised the emergency response to highest level. All the 4.7 million residents of Kashgar are undergoing blanket nucleic acid tests.
Recently, East China’s Qingdao city experienced small outbreak, where all the 10 million people were tested. Several cities including Beijing have warned residents not to travel to Kashgar.
Capital Beijing has also restricted entry of persons from Kashgar.
– Anshuman Mishra