Photo: Screenshot of a video posted by Xinhua News Agency

As the number of local COVID-19 cases continues to grow in Guangzhou, South China's Guangdong Province, the city is continuing with restrictions in key areas to control the outbreak. In Guangzhou's most affected Liwan district, one man was caught after swimming in the Pearl River away from epidemic control area to "show his swimming skills."

The 28-year-old man, surnamed Zhang, jumped into the water from a pier near the construction site where he was working and swam across the Pearl River to another pier in Haizhu District on Saturday night, according to Guangzhou Daily on Tuesday. 

Zhang was reported to have come up with the idea when he was chatting and drinking with his colleagues, and wanted to prove to them that he "had the ability to swim across the river," it said. 

Police apprehended him when he reached Haizhu District.

Police in Liwan imposed a public security penalty on Zhang for leaving the sealed area without authorization and violating Guangzhou's epidemic prevention and control orders.

Zhang admitted that he was not aware of the harm of his actions, and accepted the punishment. 

Guangzhou reported one new local confirmed COVID-19 case on Tuesday.