As infections grow in China's latest hotspot during the important holiday vacation season, a city in southeast China afflicted by COVID-19 urged people to remain home and closed several venues on Saturday.

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

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

Xiamen, a scenic city of 5 million, is one of four cities in the Fujian province China's latest Coronavirus hotspot that has reported cases in recent days.

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

Also a transport hub for southeast China, Xiamen has reported 92 locally transmitted infections in the past week. That is about half the number of nearby Putian, where the first infection in this outbreak was reported on 10 September.

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

Both cities kicked off city-wide testing for the Coronavirus on Tuesday.

Since September 10, Fujian province has reported 292 community infections.

The outbreak comes ahead of the week-long National Day holiday starting on October 1, a far busier tourist season than the Mid-Autumn festival.

The last domestic outbreak in late July to August spread to tens of Chinese cities, hammering China's tourism, hospitality and transportation sectors.

(Reuters)