A Chinese city has cancelled hundreds of flights and launched mass testing after one suspected case of Covid was identified.
The city of Guangzhou has now begun mass testing of its 5.6 million residents as the country struggles to contain the virus.
China has reported its worst outbreak of Covid since the first wave in 2020, with eastern Shanghai recording dozens of daily deaths and the capital Beijing sealing off whole neighbourhoods where handfuls of cases have been detected.
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The country has been using its zero-Covid policy, creating lockdowns, mass testing and travel restrictions to lower infections.
However, the strategy has come under increasing pressure as the highly transmissible Omicron variant spreads.
Restrictions such as a weeks-long lockdown of all of Shanghai's 26 million residents have damaged the economy, causing backlogs at the busiest container port.
Guangzhou, which is a major trade and manufacturing hub in southern China, announced today that mass testing for almost a third of its near 19 million residents after an "abnormal" test result was detected.
Hangzhou near Shanghai also announced that it had ordered 9.4 million downtown residents out of its 12.2 million population to get tested every 48 hours if they want to access public spaces and transportation.
China has reported 11,367 new infections, a small daily tally compared with most major global economies.
Over 10,000 of those cases were detected in Shanghai, where cases are trending downwards after a weeks-long lockdown which has angered residents and seen protests against a government accused of mishandling the response and failing to feed people confined at home.
In recent days, some housing compounds have lifted movement restrictions, and authorities said on Thursday that 90 per cent of new infections were found in quarantined areas.
Around 50 new cases were found in Beijing, which caused the capital to launch mass testing of nearly all its 21 million residents this week and lock down more housing compounds in the Chaoyang district.
Residents are now preparing for potential wider lockdowns, with large gatherings, group travel and weddings suspended and some schools moving online.
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