China has ordered a lockdown of a city of nine million people due to a spike in COVID cases.

Under the rules announced today, residents of the northeastern city of Changchun are required to remain at home, with one family member permitted to venture out to buy food and other necessities every two days.

Changchun residents must also undergo three rounds of mass testing, while non-essential businesses have been closed and transport links suspended.

China reported another 397 cases of local transmission nationwide on Friday, 98 of them in Jilin province that surrounds Changchun, a centre of the country’s auto industry.

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In the entire province, cases have exceeded 1,100 since the latest outbreak first struck late last week.

Just two cases were reported within Changchun itself on Friday, bringing its total to 78 in recent days.

Authorities have repeatedly pledged to lock down any community where one or more cases are found under China’s “zero tolerance” approach to the pandemic.

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Another 93 cases were confirmed in the nearby city of Jilin and authorities have already ordered a partial lockdown there and severed travel links with other cities.

Changchun is the capital of China’s northeast Jilin Province.

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Authorities in Shanghai have also said that they will close all primary, middle and high schools from tomorrow and that students will need to shift to online classes until further notice as part of COVID prevention measures.

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