Chinese city on Myanmar border in Covid-19 lockdown amid fears of the spread of Delta variant

The Chinese border city of Ruili in southwestern Yunnan province went into lockdown on July 7, 2021 after mass testing found 23 locally transmitted Covid-19 infections. Seven of the cases were reportedly linked to the highly transmissible Delta variant which has been circulating in neighbouring Myanmar. All residents of Ruili were ordered to go into mandatory home quarantine. Hong Kong molecular virologist Jin Dong-yan said that the outbreak was not surprising because of the porous nature of the border, and that vaccine developers should work to boost the efficacy of jabs to head off similar incidents in future.