Shenzhen with a population of 18 million saw many of its districts come under lockdown as Chinese authorities swoop in to conduct Covid-19 tests on the residents.
The lockdown and suspension of buses and subway services came into effect after authorities said runours of a lockdown was a misinterpretation of the latest Covid-19 prevention and control measures.
Under the measures, residents in 6 districts that comprise most of the population will undergo two tests over the weekend helping to minimise the impact on working life, the city government said in a statement.
The areas in the six major districts have been classified as high-risk areas and will remain in lockdown for 7 days with a possible extension if more positive cases were detected.
On Friday, officials reported 440 locally-transmitted confirmed COVID-19 cases in the country, of which 128 were in Sichuan Province. Altogether 1,379 local asymptomatic carriers were newly identified on Friday, including 524 in Tibet and 168 in Heilongjiang, said the health commission in its report.
The total number of COVID-19 patients discharged from hospitals after recovery reached 232,791 on the Chinese mainland as of Friday.
