China locks down more than a million people in Yuzhou, after 3 Covid cases

Yuzhou, a small city in Central China's Henan Province,with a population of around 1.17 million people, announced on Monday that it will enter a lockdown after it reported three asymptomatic cases of Covid-19 in the last two days.

Under the guidelines, all citizens are required to stay at home.

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People in the central area "must not go out", according to a statement posted Monday, while all communities will set up "sentinels and gates to strictly implement epidemic prevention and control measures".

Before the complete lockdown, Yuzhou had announced that it was halting bus and taxi services and closing shopping malls, museums and tourist attractions.

Yuzhou's lockdown follows the closure of Xi'an, a city of 13 million people in neighbouring Shaanxi Province of Northwest China.

From the start of the coronavirus, China has focused on "zero Covid" approach with tight border restrictions and targeted lockdowns.