The southern Chinese city of Guangzhou is tightening its coronavirus controls and ordering mass testing to control an outbreak of roughly 100 cases fueled by the fast-moving “Delta” strain first detected in India.
People are not allowed to leave certain districts in lockdown, restaurants and other businesses are closed, and authorities set up 24-hour checkpoints in places, according to CNBC.
People stood in long lines to get tested for the virus at retail hubs and near their apartments.
The coronavirus that devastated the globe began in the central Chinese city of Wuhan, sparking an intense focus on whether the virus escaped from a well-known lab there or developed from natural sources such as bat caves that serve as reservoirs for coronaviruses.
Communist authorities in Beijing used draconian lockdowns and widespread testing to wrangle the virus. But it has contended with flare-ups since then, sparking aggressive moves like the ones unfolding in the Guangdong province, of which Guangzhou — once known as Canton — is the capital.
