Xingcheng city in Liaoning province was locked down after 22 new locally transmitted cases of COVID-19 were confirmed over three days, as of Thursday.

Shenyang, the provincial capital, reported another confirmed local case and a new asymptomatic carrier on Thursday, the Liaoning Health Commission said on Friday.

From Tuesday to Thursday, Liaoning had reported 26 local cases, including two asymptomatic carriers, in the latest outbreak.

Woling village in Suizhong county of Huludao was listed as a high-risk area on Thursday.

Gene sequencing by the Chinese Center for Diseases Control and Prevention indicates that the variant strain of the first case in the current outbreak closely matches cases in Suifenhe city, Mudanjiang, in Heilongjiang province. Epidemiologists believe the outbreak in Huludao can be traced to infected people returning to the city from Mudanjiang for the Spring Festival holiday.

According to a statement released by the COVID-19 prevention and control headquarters in Huludao, all public venues in communities have been closed, and local agricultural markets, supermarkets and pharmacies have been ordered to adjust their business hours, the statement said.

All households are allowed to assign a representative to go out to purchase necessities daily, provided they wear masks, have normal body temperature and have health codes to scan, the statement said.

Meanwhile all municipal engineering projects and interior decoration jobs have been temporarily suspended, it said.