BEIJING (Reuters) -China reported 22 new COVID-19 cases in the mainland on July 20 versus 65 a day earlier, the country’s health authority said on Wednesday.
Of the new cases, 20 originated overseas, and two were local transmissions, the National Health Commission (NHC) said in its daily bulletin. All of the local cases were in the southwestern border province of Yunnan, it added.
Another 23 asymptomatic coronavirus cases were detected on the mainland on July 20, including one local infection in the eastern province of Jiangsu. That compared to 19 a day earlier.
China does not count asymptomatic infections as confirmed cases.
The Chinese city of Nanjing, capital of Jiangsu province, on Wednesday urged its citizens not to leave the city unless necessary, and they will need to produce negative results of a COVID-19 test within 48 hours before departure.
Nanjing late on Tuesday reported that nine airport workers tested positive for COVID-19 in a routine round of nucleic acid testing at the airport and more samples were being analysed.
It’s not immediately clear if any of the Nanjing’s cases are included in the NHC’s tally on Wednesday.
Residents in higher-risk communities in the city are required to stay at home while one neighborhood is being sealed off, Nanjing government said.
China’s total accumulated COVID-19 cases has now reached 92,364, with deaths unchanged at 4,636.
(Reporting by Roxanne Liu, Stella Qiu and Ryan Woo; Editing by Michael Perry)
