Wuhan, the central Chinese city where the Covid-19 outbreak was initially reported, briefly shut down businesses and public transportation in an area of almost one million people on Wednesday (July 27) as the authorities increased monitoring in response to numerous new infections.

China, which has substantially invested in its "dynamic Covid zero" policy, employs mass testing, rapid restrictions on economic activity and people's movements, and stringent quarantine of cases to prevent the spread of emerging clusters.

The strategy has helped Wuhan and other areas of China keep the number of cases under control, but harsh lockdowns during significant outbreaks and the fear of repeated restrictions whenever new cases are reported to have hampered the economy, business confidence, and people's willingness to travel.

Jiangxia, a district of Wuhan with over 900,000 residents, announced on Wednesday that its major urban areas must enter a three-day restriction, during which it will prohibit many large group events and dining at restaurants, close various public entertainment venues, agricultural product marketplaces, and small clinics, and suspend subway and bus service.

In addition, residents were warned not to leave the region for three days, while travelers were advised to avoid entering.

The order was issued shortly after authorities in Jiangxia said late Tuesday that they had discovered two instances through routine testing and two more while screening individuals in close contact with the infection.

The National Health Commission announced on Wednesday that China reported 703 new coronavirus cases on Tuesday, of which 120 were symptomatic and 583 were asymptomatic.

China reports 148 symptomatic and 828 asymptomatic infections separately, of which there were 976 new cases the previous day.

There were no new fatalities, bringing the total fatalities to 5,226.

As of the 26th of July, mainland China had confirmed 229,064 symptomatic cases.

According to the municipal administration, Beijing reported no new local cases, the same as the previous day.

According to local government data, Shanghai recorded two new symptomatic cases, compared to four the day before, and fourteen new asymptomatic cases, compared to 15 the day before.

One case was detected outside of confined regions in Shanghai, compared to three the previous day.

Shenzhen, a technology hotspot in the south of China, reported four new local infections, compared to 19 the previous day, of which one was symptomatic.

In Shenzhen, all cases were discovered in isolated zones.