3 new local COVID-19 cases reported in China’s Anhui

A medical worker collects a swab sample from a resident at a COVID-19 testing site in Lu'an, Anhui province, May 14, 2021. (PHOTO / XINHUA)

BEIJING/HEFEI – East China's Anhui province on Friday reported one more locally-transmitted COVID-19 case in Feixi county in the provincial capital city of Hefei, according to the emergency epidemic prevention and control headquarters of Hefei.

This is the second case in Feixi and the third in Anhui since the first confirmed case of a 29-year-old female in Lu'an city was reported on Thursday.

Some 62,000 people from designated areas in Hefei have been sampled, with over 41,000 results having come back, all negative

The new case, a 31-year-old woman, is a colleague of a case previously found in Feixi. The two had stayed in the same hotel room since Tuesday. She received a nucleic acid test on Thursday afternoon as a close contact of the previous case.

The patient has been transferred to a designated hospital and is in stable condition. The building in Feixi that houses the hotel has been classified as a medium-risk area, according to the headquarters.

The two cases reported on Thursday had close contact during a training section at a photo studio in Lu'an, the city's health commission said.

Preliminary investigation showed that the patient in Feixi had contact with people arriving from overseas in northeastern city of Dalian.

Large gatherings suspended 

Some 62,000 people from designated areas in Hefei have been sampled, with over 41,000 results having come back, all negative.

A total of 167 close contacts of the two cases have been placed under quarantine in Hefei, and epidemiological investigation is underway.

Large gatherings are suspended in some designated areas in Hefei and some large-scale events scheduled for Friday have been canceled, said the headquarters.

Authorities are providing free nucleic acid tests for local residents of the two neighborhoods located in the districts of Jin'an and Yu'an in Lu'an city

In Lu'an, two neighborhoods raised their risk level for COVID-19 from low to medium starting Friday following the newly reported case, according to the city's COVID-19 prevention and control headquarters.

The two neighborhoods are located respectively in the districts of Jin'an and Yu'an. Authorities are providing free nucleic acid tests for local residents.

Restrictions on personnel movement have been imposed and disinfection works are regularly conducted in the two areas to curb the spread of the virus.

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5 new imported cases on mainland

The Chinese mainland on Thursday reported two new local cases and five imported infections, the National Health Commission said Friday.

Three of the fresh imported cases were reported in Guangdong, and one each in Shanghai and Fujian, the commission said.

One new suspected case arriving from outside the mainland was posted in Shanghai, while no additional deaths related to COVID-19 were reported, it added.

The total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases on the mainland reached 90,815 by Thursday, including 85,894 recoveries and 4,636 deaths

By the end of Thusday, a total of 5,815 imported cases had been reported on the mainland with no deaths.

In total, the mainland has reported 90,815 confirmed cases, including 85,894 recoveries and 4,636 deaths.

There were 285 patients still receiving treatment, including one in severe condition, according to the commission.

Also on Thursday, 22 new asymptomatic cases were reported, all arriving from outside the mainland. 

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By the end of Thursday, 11,817 confirmed COVID-19 cases, including 210 deaths, had been reported in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR), while 49 cases had been reported in the Macao SAR, and 1,256 cases, including 12 deaths, had been reported in Taiwan.

A total of 11,511 COVID-19 patients in the Hong Kong SAR had been discharged from hospitals following recovery, 49 in the Macao SAR, and 1,102 in Taiwan.

Approximately 366.91 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered across China as of Thursday, a spokesperson for the commission said Friday.

More than 12.64 million vaccines doses were administered on Thursday, the highest figure since China began releasing daily vaccination reports in March, Mi Feng added.