China city is imposing Covid curbs which residents find out when they reach home

Covid In China: Guangzhou has China’s most significant virus outbreak right now, with new cases in Guangdong province reaching 2,808 on Tuesday.

China increased Covid restrictions in economic hub Guangzhou to arrest a swelling outbreak as the major industrial base reported reported 125 new locally transmitted symptomatic COVID-19 infections and 2,430 asymptomatic cases. The city of nearly 19 million people suspended schools and widened the lockdowns after days of more incremental moves that failed to stop the spread of the infections.

Covid In China: A worker wearing a protective suit walks past people waiting in line for COVID-19 tests. (AP)

In-person classes in eight of the city’s 11 districts will be halted in an order that comes after two more districts were locked down as residents were confined to their homes except to shop for essential items.

Guangzhou has China’s most significant virus outbreak right now, with new cases in Guangdong province reaching 2,808 on Tuesday, up six-fold from a week ago. The tally is the highest recorded for the city since September last year, Bloomberg reported.

Although a sweeping lockdown has not been imposed as authorities remain wary of the impact of such a step. Guangzhou is, therefore, initiating incremental curbs, neighborhood-by-neighborhood, and in some cases not making any announcements at all.

Some residents have only discovered they’re in lockdown when they reached home, Bloomberg reported.

Beijing is also emerging as a key Covid hotspot, with the capital reporting 95 new cases for Wednesday, holding near a more than five-month high. Neighborhoods and apartment blocks in the populous Chaoyang district are also being locked down.