More than 7,000 cases of a mosquito-borne virus have been reported across China's Guangdong province since July, prompting measures similar to those taken during the Covid-19 pandemic, BBC reported.

In Foshan city, which has been hit the hardest, chikungunya patients must stay in hospital, where their beds will protected with mosquito nets. They can only be discharged after they test negative or at the end of a week-long stay.

Spread through the bite of an infected mosquito, the virus causes fever and severe joint pain, which sometimes can last for years.

Although rare in China, chikungunya outbreaks are common in South and South East Asia and parts of Africa, according to BBC.