The first city where Covid-19 was detected has been plunged back into restrictions after a spike in cases.
Wuhan, the site of the world’s first outbreak in late 2019, reported around 20 to 25 new infections a day this week, prompting local authorities to order more than 800,000 people in one district to stay home until Sunday.
Officials also suspended the sale of pork in parts of the city, according to images and posts on social media, after one Covid case was found that authorities said was linked to the local pork supply chain.
China’s coronavirus caseload has remained small by global standards, but its ultra-strict and disruptive containment measures this year against the highly transmissible Omicron variant have weighed heavily on the world’s second-largest economy.
Following the initial outbreak in Wuhan, China largely managed to keep the virus under control by closing borders and moving quickly to stamp out local clusters.