China tightens restrictions as rise in Covid cases reported

BEIJING: Everyone in a district of 1.8 million people in China’s southern metropolis of Guangzhou was ordered to stay home on Saturday to undergo virus testing and a major city in the southwest closed schools as another rise in infections was reported.

Nationwide, a total of 11,773 infections were found over the past 24 hours, including 10,351 in people with no symptoms, the National Health Commission announced. China’s numbers are low, but the increase over the past week is a challenge to a “zero-Covid” strategy that aims to isolate every infected person.

The quarantine for travelers arriving in China was shortened to five days from seven as part of changes in anti-virus controls announced Friday to reduce their cost and disruption. But the ruling Communist Party said it would stick to “zero Covid” even as other countries ease travel and other restrictions and try to shift to a long-term strategy of living with the virus.

A total of 3,775 infections were found in Guangzhou, a city of 13 million, including 2,996 in people who showed no symptoms, according to the NHC. That was an increase from Friday’s total of 3,030, including 2,461 people without symptoms.

People in the Guangzhou’s Haizhu district were ordered to stay home on Saturday while testing was carried out, the district government announced on its social media account. One member of each household was allowed out to buy food.