Shanghai reports 16 new local COVID-19 cases

Shanghai reported two new locally transmitted COVID-19 confirmed cases and 14 asymptomatic cases on Thursday, the municipal government announced on Friday.

There are now 24 cases in the city's latest wave of infections.

Among the 16 cases reported on Friday, two confirmed cases and three asymptomatic cases tested positive on Wednesday when the city's health authority screened individuals related to cases from other regions.

The five individuals, all women aged between 41 and 49, worked in a supermarket on North Huting Road in Southwest Shanghai's Songjiang district.

Among the newly reported asymptomatic cases, six of them, including three in their 70s and 80s, are family members of the cases. They tested positive during hotel quarantine.

The other five asymptomatic cases and some previously reported cases were in the same senior amateur dancing troupe in the city's Putuo district. They too tested positive during quarantine.

More than 320 close contacts of the newly reported 16 cases have been identified and put under hotel quarantine.

Shanghai reported 43 imported cases on Thursday. The number of imported cases receiving treatment in the city has been climbing over the past few days, reaching 574 on Thursday.