North China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region has detected 11 confirmed COVID-19 cases in Manzhouli City after mass testing, according to local health authorities on Thursday.

The city also reported one asymptomatic case and two other suspected infections.

The city had collected 203,326 samples covering all residents as of 7:00 a.m. on Wednesday. An epidemiological investigation into the new cases has been launched.

The whole genome sequencing results of two confirmed cases showed that the novel coronavirus in Manzhouli City was highly homologous with the epidemic strain in Russia.

The new outbreak in Manzhouli City is clustered, including families, schools and communities, said local health authorities, adding the six residential areas affected have been strictly closed for 24 hours.