Now, China bans weddings and funerals in rural areas to combat virus
Wedding ceremony in China
As new coronavirus cases surface in various Chinese provinces, authorities across the nation have ordered the rural population in China to stop funerals and weddings to combat the virus, reports said.
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China's Hebei province near capital Beijing had witnessed a virus surge. The authorities have asked people living in villages to halt activities in which people usually congregate in huge numbers.
Jinzhong city in Shanxi province also initiated strict control on gatherings after two asymptomatic cases from Hebei was detected.
Last year in February when the virus began spreading across China authorities had clampdown on weddings calling for nuptials to be delayed and to scale down funerals.
The guidelines were issued on February 2, 2020 as China began witnessing soaring coronavirus cases. February 2, 2020, was considered an auspicious day for weddings in China.
Wedding banquets were also banned in February as authorities said funerals should be held in "simple and expeditious manner to avoid gatherings of people".
China had lockdown Hubei after the virus first emerged in Wuhan and had suspended all marriage registrations.
On Wednesday, the northeastern Heilongjiang government imposed an "emergency state" with at least 20 million people now under some form of lockdown in the country's northern regions amid a surge in cases.
Suihua city in Heilongjiang was sealed after it confirmed one coronavirus case and 45 asymptomatic cases with smaller cities near Suihua also set to be sealed or placed under travel restrictions.