Guangzhou is at the centre of the latest nationwide surge in cases after it reported more than 2,000 on Wednesday, with mass testing and lockdowns in place for its 19 million population, reports The South China Morning Post.

China’s largest fabric market, Zhongda, is usually home to some 100,000 employees, but the 5 sq km (1.9 square miles) market, one and a half times the size of New York’s Central Park, is almost empty.

Zhongda had been until last week the home and workplace for Hu An, a skilled migrant worker from Hubei province, but he hurriedly packed up his belongings and returned home to undergo five days of local authority mandated quarantine.

“The outbreak means the end of this year’s work for me. The owners and workers at most of the small workshops and factories have much less income this year compared to last year,” 30-something Hu told the newspaper.

Huang Weijie, a mobile vendor selling clothes across urban cities in the Pearl River Delta, also rushed back to Yangxi.

In his hometown, he is continuing his street stall business.

“I was selling clothes travelling in Shenzhen, Foshan, Shunde and Dongguan, and found that the flow of people was much less than last year,” Huang told the newspaper.

Chinese authorities have put several regions in the city under lockdown.

China is following strict Zero COVID-9 restrictions.