Authorities in Dalian City of northeast China's Liaoning Province said to have found two new asymptomatic COVID-19 cases on Thursday. The patients are all local port staff working in a cold-chain company.

The cases were detected during the city's regular nucleic acid testing. The patients were then transferred to the hospital for medical quarantine and treatment, local authorities said on Thursday.

Close contacts of the two persons infected plus relevant personnel are being fully screened and quarantined for medical observation.

A total of 8,216 people in the community where the confirmed COVID-19 cases were reported have been tested, all of which results came back negative.