China Covid Success Under Threat As Delta-Driven Outbreak Reaches Beijing

China has previously boasted of its success in snuffing out the pandemic within its borders after imposing the world's first virus lockdown in early 2020 as Covid-19 seeped out of Wuhan in the centre of the country.

A coronavirus cluster that emerged in the Chinese city of Nanjing has now reached five provinces and Beijing, forcing lockdowns on hundreds of thousands of people as authorities scramble to stamp out the worst outbreak in months. China has previously boasted of its success in snuffing out the pandemic within its borders after imposing the world's first virus lockdown in early 2020 as Covid-19 seeped out of Wuhan in the centre of the country. But an outbreak this month driven by the fast-spreading Delta variant has thrown that record into jeopardy since it broke out at Nanjing airport in eastern Jiangsu province.  The city reported a total of 184 local coronavirus cases Friday after nine cleaners at Nanjing Lukou International Airport tested positive on July 20.