Health authorities in Kashgar, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, have reported a new asymptomatic COVID-19 case. The local government has quarantined all close contacts for medical observation and is conducting nucleic acid tests. 

The infection was discovered on Saturday during community-level testing in Shufu County. According to a statement by the local authorities, a 17-year-old returned a positive reading after a nucleic acid test but had no cough or fever.

The patient has been placed under medical quarantine.

Speculation soon grew on Chinese social media after people posted microblogs claiming that flights in and out of the city had been canceled.

But Kashgar information office official Jia Xiaolong told CGTN, "(the flights are) going back to normal."

CGTN found on HanglvZongheng - a mobile application providing services for air travel - that there is only one flight scheduled on Sunday and Monday, respectively, traveling from Beijing to Kashgar, whereas multiple flights are regularly scheduled on Sundays and Mondays. 

China has brought the novel coronavirus infection situation largely under control thanks to the timely measures taken. Specifically, far-west Xinjiang downgraded its COVID-19 response level to low-risk in late August. 

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Health officials advised strengthening self-protection going into the fall and winter seasons. "(People should) wear masks, wash hands frequently, improve ventilation and keep social distancing," read the statement.