Coronavirus | China's Xiamen city closes tourist hotspot

BEIJING, Aug. 18 Reuters - A city in southeast China hit by COVID - 19 warned residents on Saturday to stay home and closed various venues as diseases spread in the country's most efficient hotspot during a key holiday travel season.

The government of Xiamen, in a series of notices, told residents not to leave home unnecessarily, closed parks, scenic spots and sports venues and halted mass activities including tours, fairs and performances.

The measures - short of a full lockdown came in early November at the first of the four-day Mid-Autumn Festival holidays, a peak travel season across China.

Xiamen, a city of 5 million, is one of four cities in China's latest hot spot for coronavirus - Fujian province - have reported cases in recent days with the highest number of cases reported.

Visitors to Xiamen's residential compounds are not allowed without approval, non-essential vehicle traffic in and out of residential areas is prohibited, and dining at restaurants, cafes and other venues is prohibited.

Xiamen, also a trans-city transit hub for southeast China, has reported 92 locally transmitted infections in the past week. That is about half the number of nearby Putianians where the first infection was reported on Sep. 10, where the first infection in this outbreak was reported on the adjacent field.

The first patient in the cluster was a close contact of a case in Xiamen, Xiamen authorities said on Monday.

Both cities kicked off the city-wide testing of coronavirus on Tuesday.

The outbreak comes before the week-long July national holiday which starts on Oct. 1, a far busier tourist season than the Mid August festival in New Jersey.