Jilin city in northeast China has imposed restrictions on transport and gatherings amid fears of a new wave of COVID-19 infections after a cluster outbreak was reported.
Train and long-distance bus services have been stopped, gatherings banned and indoor public venues closed after seven new cases were confirmed on Tuesday, including an asymptomatic patient, the South China Morning Post reported.
That brought the total to 21 community cases, with two asymptomatic patients, since the first case in the cluster was reported a week ago.
“The current outbreak is very serious and complex and poses a major risk of further spread,” Gai Dongping, the vice-mayor of Jilin, told reporters in an online briefing on Wednesday.
“In order to prevent and stem the spread of the epidemic, the Jilin epidemic prevention and control group has decided to implement control measures in the urban area of Jilin,” she said.
That included closing all residential compounds and rural villages in the area, the Jilin city government said in a statement.
More than 4.26 million people around the world have been confirmed with the coronavirus to date, according to Johns Hopkins University. More than 293,000 have died - 82,000 of them in the US. Nearly 1.5 million people have recovered.