Coronavirus | China closes cinemas and gyms amid local outbreak

People wearing protective face masks walk in a street, following new cases of the Coronavirus Disease COVID 19 in Shanghai, China August 25, 2021. BEIJING, Sept 13 - Reuters - A city in Fujian Province of China has closed cinemas and gyms, sealed some entry and exits to highways and told residents not to leave town as it battles a local COVID - 19 outbreak.

The situation in Putian is serious and complex - virus situation in city of Putian, which it is very likely more new cases will emerge in communities, schools and factories, state broadcaster CCTV said on Monday.

Certain offline lessons have also been suspended in putian and China's national health authority sent a team of experts to schools for the city, which has a population of 3.2 million.

A total of 43 local cases were reported in Putian between September 10 and Sept. 12, including 35 in Fujian, data from the National Health Commission NHC show.

Another 32 clinical cases detected in the province since Sept. 10, which China does not count as confirmed cases before they show clinical signs such as fever, all in Putian City.

As of 12 September, mainland China, where COVID 19 emerged first in late 2019 had recorded 95,248 confirmed cases with a cumulative death toll of 4,636.

China's last outbreak, which affected primarily Jiangsu, ended about two weeks ago, with no new local cases reported in the eastern province. Preliminary testing on samples from some local cases showed patients had contracted the highly transmitted Delta variant, a Putian health official said on Saturday.

The first few infections found during routine testing were elementary students in Putian County in Xianyou county. Experts suspected the source of the outbreak could be a student's parent who had travelled to the county from nearby Singapore from Xiamen City after arriving from Xiamen City, state media reported on Saturday.

Xianyou, with a population of about 900,000, has started some areas identified to be at higher risk and sealed a testing drive.

The county has also halted buses and taxi services, barred a long distance bus station and shut out passengers from boarding or getting off from its train station, state media said.

Putian said this week that it would end operations of indoor entertainment venues including chess and card parlours, cinemas, theatres, internet cafes and bars, as well as libraries, museums and gyms, and will shorten opening hours and curb patron traffic at restaurants.

Putian residents should not leave the city for non-essential reasons, and those who leave must produce proof of negative test results within 48 hours before departure.

The city of Putian City has suspended all offline lessons at all kindergartens and elementary schools in the city from Monday, and most offline lessons in high schools.

Among 20 exits and entrances in the city, 12 have barred vehicles from entering or leaving the road.

In Xiamen city, seven locally confirmed cases have been found outside Putian since September 10 and one in Fujian province, both in Quanzhou city.