Aug. 30 (UPI) -- China's "Silicon Valley" manufacturing hub ordered new lockdowns, shutting down the world's largest electronics market in the southern city of Shenzhen in response to a new outbreak of COVID-19 cases.
On Monday, the Shenzhen government said residents living in six districts are now required to stay at home for four days, due to heightened COVID-19 prevention and control measures.
The stay-at-home order lasts through Thursday. During that time, residents are only allowed to leave to take mandated "nucleic acid tests on a daily basis at designated locations, purchasing daily necessities, disposing of garbage and seeking for emergency medical treatment," according to the government statement. Only one person per household is permitted to leave at a given time.
The four-day lockdown comes after authorities reported 24 new locally transmitted confirmed cases and 11 new locally transmitted asymptomatic cases of COVID-19 on Monday.
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The city also reported three imported confirmed cases and three imported asymptomatic cases.
Patients were put under closed-loop management upon arrival, before being transferred to a hospital.
All businesses in the affected areas have also been shut down, with the exception of supermarkets, pharmacies and hospitals.
In-restaurant dining is also suspended while businesses have been told to switch to working from home.
China has long enforced a strict zero-tolerance COVID-19 policy.
Shenzhen has a population of over 17 million people.
The Longgang and Longhua districts are home to factories run by Foxconn Technology Group, which is a parts supplier to Apple. Both of the company's campuses were operating normally, a Foxconn spokesperson told the South China Morning Post.
This is not the first time the city has been shut down. Shenzhen was idled in March after authorities ordered most production be suspended and employees work from home amid a surge in COVID-19 cases. That lockdown came after 75 locally transmitted cases were confirmed.
