Authorities have been discouraging people from returning home for the upcoming Chinese New Year holiday, as the travel peak may increase the risk of COVID-19 infection.

While employees are persuaded to stay where they work during the holiday, which falls in mid-February this year, many places have released rules for homecomings.

Wuhan, Hubei province said on Saturday to return to the city, one needs to be from a low-risk region and offer a negative nucleic acid test result from within the previous seven days. The person also needs to have a normal body temperature, a green health code and another code that shows the person has not traveled to medium or high-risk areas over the previous 14 days.

The rules apply to college students, white collar workers and migrant workers alike, local authorities said in a circular, adding they will provide testing services for those who cannot produce a negative result and ask them to obey home quarantine for two weeks. 

Other places bracing for the tide of returnees include Linquan county in Anhui province, home to a large population of rural migrant workers. The government of Linquan said apart from recent proof of health, people traveling from outside need to inform neighborhood authorities at least three days ahead of their arrival.

Authorities in Anxi county of Fujian province said people from "medium- or high-risk" regions can return with a negative nucleic acid test result taken within the previous 48 hours. They also need to inform their communities, villages or companies in advance and observe local health management rules, the county said in a circular on Friday. 

As of Monday, China has one high-risk region in Gaocheng district of Shijiazhuang, Hebei province, and 75 medium-risk regions scattered across Beijing municipality and Hebei, Liaoning and Heilongjiang provinces.