Dalian officials hold a news conference on the COVID-19 situation in the city, July 23, 2020. (ZHANG XIAOMIN / CHINADAILY.COM.CN)

BEIJING/URUMQI/SHANGHAI/DALIAN - Chinese health authorities said Thursday that it received reports of 22 newly confirmed COVID-19 cases on the Chinese mainland on Wednesday, 19 of which were domestically transmitted and three were imported.

Apart from the 22 new cases reported by the National Health Commission, Dalian's government said the city on Thursday saw two newly confirmed cases and another 12 asymptomatic cases. 

Authorities said that starting from Thursday, Dalian will conduct nucleic acid testing on about 190,000 people in the Dalianwan area and two other residential communities

The city government said at a press conference that the new cases were found after a locally transmitted case was reported on Wednesday, prompting the city to launch an epidemiological investigation into the patient's close contacts.  

Luo Weixing, deputy secretary-general of Dalian municipal government, said one of the three confirmed cases and all the asymptomatic cases were related to a factory of a seafood processing company.

The city has closed the factory and quarantined all its employees. Nucleic acid tests are being conducted on the company workers, facilities and surrounding areas.

Authorities said that starting from Thursday, the city will conduct nucleic acid testing on about 190,000 people in the Dalianwan area, where the plant is located, as well as two other residential communities.

18 new cases in Xinjiang

According to the commission, 18 out of Wednesday's 19 domestic cases were reported in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region while the remaining case was reported in Liaoning province. All the new cases in Xinjiang were reported in the regional capital Urumqi, local health authorities said.

Xinjiang also reported 24 new asymptomatic cases, all in Urumqi, on Wednesday.

A workers disinfects a pavement outside a hospital in Urumqi, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, July 21, 2020. (SONG YANHUA / XINHUA)

All COVID-19 patients and asymptomatic carriers have been sent to the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region Sixth People's Hospital, an infectious disease hospital with 800 beds. The hospital in the northern suburb of Urumqi has stopped receiving non-COVID-19 patients.

Song Yuxia, vice-president of the hospital, told Xinhua that the hospital had been designated to treat COVID-19 patients during the outbreak earlier this year. The hospital has kept "a state of preparedness" since its last COVID-19 patient was discharged on March 8.

Currently, 55 experts from Xinjiang's medical institutions are stationed at the hospital. Under their guidance, the hospital implements the "one person, one therapy" strategy to treat the patients. Song said traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has been integrated into the therapy. 

Besides the 18 new cases in Xinjiang, one local case was reported in Liaoning while Shanghai, Guangdong and Shaanxi each saw one imported case, according to the National Health Commission

As for the newly reported imported cases, Shanghai, Guangdong province and Shaanxi province each reported one case, the commission said.

The case in Shanghai involves a Chinese national working in the United States. The passenger departed from the United States on July 17 and arrived at the Shanghai Pudong International Airport via Germany on July 19. The passenger was put under quarantine upon arrival and showed symptoms during the isolated observation period and was later confirmed as a COVID-19 patient.

No deaths related to COVID-19 was reported on the mainland Wednesday, the commission said.

Fifteen patients were discharged from hospitals after recovery, and three new suspected cases were reported.

As of Wednesday, the overall confirmed cases on the mainland had reached 83,729, including 240 patients who were still being treated, with 11 in severe condition.

Altogether, 78,855 people had been discharged after recovery, and 4,634 had died of the disease, the commission said.

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By the end of Wednesday, 2,023 imported cases had been reported on the mainland. Out of those cases, 1,947 had been discharged from hospitals after recovery while 76 remained hospitalized, with two in severe condition. No deaths from imported cases had been reported.

As of Wednesday, the mainland has reported 83,729 confirmed cases, including 2,023 imported cases

There were still four suspected cases on the mainland, the commission said.

According to the commission, 7,218 close contacts were still under medical observation after 378 people were released from medical observation.

Thirty-one new asymptomatic cases, including seven from outside the mainland, were reported while 16 asymptomatic cases were re-categorized as confirmed cases.

The commission said 176 asymptomatic cases, including 89 from outside of the mainland, were still under medical observation. 

By Wednesday, Xinjiang has reported 82 confirmed and 77 asymptomatic cases, and 3,284 people were still under medical observation. 

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In Shanghai, the municipality has reported 396 imported cases and 342 cases transmitted locally. 

By Wednesday, 2,131 confirmed cases, including 14 deaths, had been reported in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR), 46 confirmed cases in the Macao SAR, and 455 in Taiwan, including seven deaths.

A total of 1,344 COVID-19 patients in the Hong Kong SAR, 46 in the Macao SAR, and 440 in Taiwan had been discharged from hospitals after recovery.