China tightens restrictions as rise in cases reported

BEIJING >> Everyone in a district of 1.8 million people in China’s southern metropolis of Guangzhou was ordered to stay home for virus testing Saturday and a major city in the southwest closed schools as another rise in infections was reported.

Nationwide, a total of 11,773 infections were reported over the previous 24 hours, including 10,351 people with no symptoms. China’s numbers are low, but the past week’s increase is challenging a “zero-COVID” strategy that aims to isolate every infected person. The quarantine for travelers arriving in China is to be shortened to a minimum of five days from seven as part of changes in controls announced Friday to reduce their cost and disruption.