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China has begun placing residents under tighter restrictions, closing down communities and ordering residents to stay home to be tested for the virus, the Associated Press reported on Saturday.
Nationwide, a total of 11,773 people living in China were reported to have been infected with COVID-19, including 10,351 people without symptoms, according to the AP.
According to the AP, those reports prompted China to push for tighter restrictions, putting many communities on lockdown as part of its “zero COVID” strategy, which aims to isolate every infected person.
The National Health Commission said 3,775 people were found to be infected, including 2,996 people who showed no symptoms in China’s southern metropolis of Guangzhou, home to 13 million people, according to the AP.
That was a 3,030-person increase from Friday, the agency said.
Residents living in Guangzhou’s Haizhu district were told to visit the nearest testing station and stay home, according to the AP. Guangzhou had also closed schools and transport services across the city.
In Guangzhou, only one member of each household was allowed to buy food, while in the rest of China, those who want to enter supermarkets and other public buildings must show a negative test result taken as often as once a day, according to The AP .
According to the AP, those living in China are frustrated as some are left without access to food or medicine, which has sparked protests.
NHC deputy director Lei Haichao told the AP that the goal of the tighter restrictions is to “prevent the epidemic and minimize the impact on economic and social development.”
