New detections in Dalian, Urumqi

The port city of Dalian, Liaoning province, reported nine new locally transmitted COVID-19 cases and 27 asymptomatic infections from Thursday to 3 pm Friday, bringing the city's total confirmed cases to 12 since the latest outbreak was reported on Wednesday, according to local health authorities.

"All the confirmed patients have been transferred to the city's designated hospital－Dalian Sixth People's Hospital－for treatment," said Zhao Lian, deputy director of the Dalian Health Commission at a Friday news conference.

All nine new confirmed cases and 27 asymptomatic infections were discovered via organized virus screenings among close contacts of the first confirmed case reported on Wednesday and all are employees of Dalian Kaiyang World Seafood Co.

The company is a well-known local enterprise processing imported seafood and selling frozen seafood gift packages produced both at home and abroad.

Since the new outbreak, the company has suspended operations with all employees placed under quarantine. Mass nucleic acid testing and cleaning activities were performed in surrounding areas.

Some 190,000 people are expected to undergo testing, said the local health authority. By Thursday, more than 25,000 samples were collected from nearby medium-risk areas and the test results reported so far have all come back negative.

On Thursday night, the Dalianwan area, which has three villages and 17 communities, was named a medium-risk area, together with another community－Gongrencun community of Xianglujiao in the city's Xigang district. Residential communities there have been temporarily shut down.

Citywide, the authority has suspended various cultural, entertainment and sports activities, and shut down cinemas, museums, gyms and swimming pools.

The National Health Commission has dispatched 18 experts to Dalian to assist in the outbreak response.

Despite the new cases, the long-delayed 2020 Chinese Super League will kick off Saturday in both Dalian and Suzhou, Jiangsu province, each hosting eight CSL teams.

From Saturday to Sept 28, the two groups will play in a tournament-style league in "blue zones" sealed off for the games, with no spectators allowed entry.

Nationwide, 21 new confirmed COVID-19 cases on the Chinese mainland were reported Thursday, including 15 locally transmitted ones, with 13 of the 15 in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region.

Officials in Urumqi, Xinjiang's capital, said most of the confirmed cases reported over the past two days were transmitted from previous asymptomatic carriers, rather than newly infected cases.

"And 27 of the 31 confirmed cases in the past two days were found in asymptomatic carriers, and with ongoing mass screenings there will be more confirmed cases. There is no need to panic," Rui Baoling, head of the city's disease control and prevention center, told a news conference Friday.

Urumqi reported 13 locally transmitted COVID-19 infections and 19 asymptomatic cases on Thursday, and the figure of confirmed cases climbed to 93 in the city since the latest outbreak of the virus on July 15.

As the first locally transmitted case was detected in the city's downtown, Urumqi has launched a free nucleic acid testing campaign citywide, and more than two million residents have finished sampling as of Thursday, said Mayor Yasen Sidik.