South China's Hainan Province reported 45 new positive COVID-19 cases from 0:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Wednesday, bringing the total number of infections to 2,454 amid a new wave of the epidemic since August, according to the local health authorities.

The epidemic is still developing rapidly in Hainan Province, and the State Council joint prevention and control mechanism has dispatched an expert team against the epidemic, the spokesperson of the National Health Commission, Mi Feng, said on Wednesday.