Special issue on resurgence of COVID-19

The latest outbreak of COVID-19 in China emerged on 20 July this year, when more than a dozen cases were detected among cleaning staff at Nanjing Lukou International Airport, according to the country’s National Health Commission (NHC). Further viral genome sequencing has found that all the strains were the highly-infectious Russian Delta variant, which can contribute to faster and wider transmission. The outbreak prompted officials to seal off the relevant communities and roll out nucleic acid tests for more than 9 million residents in the city of Nanjing. Despite the rapid and aggressive actions taken, the new wave spread, leading to the tourist hotspot of Zhangjiajie becoming another flash point. Tourists visiting Zhangjiajie then carried the virus home, including to Beijing, the capital of China.   

This special issue urgently solicits papers related to the domestic epidemic situation in Nanjing and Zhangjiajie. We welcome studies focusing on new epidemiological/sociobehavioural models and other innovations which may accelerate action to prevent another wave. Manuscripts submitted to this special issue will receive priority processing.

Submission schedule:

• Deadline for submissions: 30 September 2021
• Deadline for reviews: 31 October 2021
• Deadline for submission of revisions: 30 November 2021

Submission instructions:

Please read the Guide for Authors before submitting. All articles should be submitted online; please select ‘SI: resurgence of COVID-19’ on submission. Authors should specify that they are submitting to the special issue in their cover letter. If the manuscript is accepted, the article will be published open access with no fee payable by the author.

Guest editors:

• Hui Zhang, Institute of Public Safety Research, Tsinghua University, China. Email: zhhui@tsinghua.edu.cn
• Bin Chen, College of System Engineering, National University of Defense Technology, China. Email: nudtcb9372@gmail.com