Epidemic prevention staff and traffic police officers register information of cars and passengers in Horgos, Ili Kazak Autonomous Prefecture in Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region on January 24, 2022. Photo: VCG

The Ili Kazak Autonomous Prefecture in Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region has initiated an emergency response amid the latest COVID-19 flare-ups, local officials announced at a press conference on Monday.   

"As of 4 pm on Monday, four confirmed COVID-10 cases and 10 asymptomatic infections have been detected in Horgos, in the Ili Kazak Autonomous Prefecture in Xinjiang," Chen Zhengfa, an official from the Ili prefectural health authority, said during the press conference.

The latest outbreak of COVID-19 in Ili started after two asymptomatic virus carriers were discovered in Horgos on Saturday.

One of the cases is an employee at a local beauty salon who had a booster of COVID-19 vaccine on November 12, 2021. The other was a client of the salon who had been double vaccinated as of August 30, 2021, Chen revealed. 

The epidemiological investigation showed that the two cases did not leave Ili in the 14 days before they tested positive or had contact with any confirmed case, asymptomatic carrier, contaminated cold-chain products or go to local hospitals, according to Chen.

So far, their close contacts have all been put under quarantine. Disinfection and lockdown management has also been conducted at sites where they had been to, Chen said.

"An emergency response was also launched in the prefecture after the discovery of the two cases," Li Gengyun, an official from the Ili prefectural government, said at Monday's press conference.   

Under emergency response, medical staff has been dispatched to conduct nucleic acid testing for high-risk groups and strict disinfection will be conducted in sites that could be contaminated by positive cases as well as imported items. A lockdown management will be applied in areas related to positive cases while carrying out measures to guarantee the daily needs of residents in these areas, according to Li.