COVID-19 epidemic control   File photo:Xinhua

Putian in East China's Fujian Province has registered six confirmed COVID-19 cases and 18 asymptomatic carriers as of Saturday 4pm, with primary studies on the virus suggesting it to be the Delta variant, local authorities said at a Saturday press conference. 

The initial result of examination of 19 samples returned as the Delta variant and the final results will come out in 2-3 days.

Epidemiological investigation details haven't been fully revealed but experts suspect that the outbreak may be caused by a patient who recently returned to Putian from Singapore. 

Putian has adjusted five communities to medium-risk and two to high-risk. 

Six key villages related to the cases completed nucleic acid tests of residents on Friday and the testing has expanded to 101,000 people in 24 villages, which is expected to finish by Saturday midnight. 

On Saturday, Putian announced the suspension of inter-city and inter-province bus services until further notice. 

The National Health Commission has deployed a work team to Fujian to guide local epidemic control. 

Global Times