People queue up for COVID-19 nucleic acid testing in Zhuhai of South China's Guangdong Province on March 31, 2022. Photo: IC photo.

 

Zhuhai in South China's Guangdong Province refuted the rumor that the city will be put under lockdown due to the latest COVID-19 resurgence. The city has punished three rumor makers with administrative detention and a fine.

According to the Zhuhai government's announcement on Wednesday evening, three people made up and spread the fake news on one of China's most popular social media platforms WeChat and on the Chinese short video platform Douyin, which has led to tangible negative social impact. 

Since the first positive case - a kindergarten teacher who tested positive on Monday, Zhuhai has reported a total of 38 cases as of Wednesday, all connected to the same transmission chain originated from the kindergarten cluster infection. Despite Zhuhai urgently shutting down all schools including kindergartens and training institutions on Tuesday, 27 new cases were reported Wednesday morning. 

The cluster is believed to have been caused by the highly transmissible Omicron subvariant BA.5, which has already been found in at least seven Chinese cities including Shanghai, Beijing, Northwest China's Xi'an, North China's Tianjin, East China's Qingdao, Northeast China's Dalian and Zhuhai.