(Bloomberg) --

China’s new Covid-19 infections will increase in coming days and the areas affected by the epidemic may continue to expand, a health official said.

The current delta variant outbreak is caused by a new overseas origin, Wu Liangyou, an official at the National Health Commission, said at a briefing in Beijing Sunday.

The outbreak has expanded to 11 provinces in the week since Oct. 17, Mi Feng, spokesman for the commission, said at the same briefing.

Some cities in the provinces of Gansu and Inner Mongolia halted bus and taxi services because of the virus. The cities include Lanzhou, provincial capital of Gansu, according to Zhou Min, an official at the transport ministry.

China reported 26 new local confirmed Covid-19 infections on Saturday, including seven in Inner Mongolia, six in Gansu, six in Ningxia, four in Beijing, one in Hebei, one in Hunan and one in Shaanxi, according to the National Health Commission. Another four local asymptomatic cases were reported in Hunan and Yunnan.

Separately, Beijing will halt a marathon originally scheduled for Oct. 31 due to the virus, the Beijing Daily reported. People who are currently in regions where infections were found are banned from visiting or returning to the capital for now, the newspaper said. 

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