Citizens in Yangzhou, East China's Jiangsu Province are receiving nucleic acid testing on Sunday amid the latest epidemic outbreak with a total of 94 confirmed cases reported as of Tuesday. Photo: IC

 Starting from midnight Tuesday, the city of Yangzhou in East China's Jiangsu Province has put all communities in the main urban area under closed management, while continuing its strict control of access routes to and out of the area to contain further spread of the COVID-19 epidemic.

Yangzhou has become another city of concern amid the recent outbreaks as among 45 new local cases reported in Jiangsu on Monday, 40 cases were in the city.

The provincial epidemic prevention and control headquarters has cut some inbound and outbound transportation of the two cities, including coach stations, taxis and flights. 

For passengers who depart from Yangzhou or Nanjing railway stations, nucleic acid testing reports taken with 48 hours are required.

Since its first two cases were reported on Wednesday in Yangzhou, there are a total of 94 confirmed cases and two asymptomatic infections in the latest outbreak in the city, as of Tuesday.

In this round of the epidemic in Yangzhou, the first confirmed case was a 64-year-old woman surnamed Mao from Nanjing, who came to Yangzhou by bus on July 21 and lived with her sister, who was also infected.

The two had gone to three local mahjong parlors to play cards, making the parlors the "eye of the storm" in this round of the epidemic. Mao is under investigation by the police in Yangzhou for hiding her itinerary and causing the COVID-19 flare-up in the city.

A local resident in Yangzhou told the Global Times that most mahjong parlors are very large and can accommodate 150 tables of four people each at the same time. All players are in one room sitting close to each other.

According to epidemiological survey statistics, 64 percent of confirmed 94 cases in Yangzhou were related to mahjong parlors.

Jiangsu authority had closed 45,371 mahjong halls and postponed or canceled 19 grant activities scheduled in August.

Li, another local resident, was put under home quarantine from Sunday, as she had been to a wet market where several COVID-19 patients were detected. Li reported herself immediately after realizing she had been at the same market with COVID-19 patients.

"I have taken the nucleic acid testing twice and the results were negative," Li told the Global Times on Tuesday.

So far, there's been no confirmed case in her residential community. Currently, one person from a household can go outside to buy daily commodities one time per day after registration, according to Li.

Another resident surnamed Du, who had stayed at home since Saturday, told the Global Times that she have bought a lot of food in advance to prepare for a stay-at-home order.

But Du said that she is not nervous as she was in early 2020, as both the country and the city have more experiences in coping with the disease. "All I need to do is stay home, and hope that Yangzhou can get over the outbreak soon."