Amid COVID-19 surge, China's Inner Mongolia quarantines over 2000 tourists

As China is witnessing a surge in COVID-19 cases in several regions, more than 2000 tourists visiting China's inner Mongolia region have been sent to hotels to undergo two weeks of quarantine.

The comes after reports of an outbreak of COVID-19 in the vast, lightly populated region that attracts visitors with its mountains, lakes and grasslands, surfaced, Fox News reported.

Inner Mongolia accounts for 19 of the 48 new cases of domestic transmission announced Friday.

China, which in past has been successfully controlled several COVID-19 outbreaks, is witnessing a surge of COVID-19 cases and health authorities are scrambling to contain the latest outbreak that has spread to 14 provinces.

Most of the new cases have been reported from northern areas, NHC reports show. Infections were reported in Heilongjiang, Inner Mongolia, Gansu, Beijing and Ningxia.

The quarantines are typical of the strict measures China has taken to control the pandemic, which also includes mask-wearing, electronic case tracing, mass testing, lockdowns and vaccinations.

China has reported 4,636 deaths among 91,665 cases of COVID-19 recorded in the country since the first infections were detected in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in late 2019.

( With inputs from ANI )