Wuhan’s Jiangxia district have been told to stay in their homes and not go out unless necessary. All public transport has been stopped and entertainment venues shut for three days after four asymptomatic cases were found in the district on Tuesday.
While so far the restrictions are contained to just the one district, the move is likely to spark concerns about a widening of curbs.
Life in the pandemic-scarred city of 11 million people had largely returned to normal since its initial lockdown in 2020 -- which set a precedent for how Chinese authorities would handle flare ups in other parts of the country -- with a small outbreak in April and a handful of cases in the past month.
China is sticking to its Covid Zero strategy of lockdowns, movement restrictions and mass testing despite it being challenged like never before, with more contagious variants circumventing the strictest of curbs.