Mainland China reports 16 new COVID-19 cases vs 17 a day earlier

Mainland China reported 16 new COVID-19 cases on Nov. 20, down from 17 the previous day, with seven cases of local transmission and nine cases originating overseas, the country's health authority said on Saturday.

China's National Health Commission said in its daily bulletin that five of the local transmissions took place in Tianjin and two in Shanghai. Tianjin, which neighbours the capital Beijing, will launch a three-day universal screening programme covering nearly 3 million of its residents on Saturday.

Local officials said on Friday that one community in Tianjin had been placed in lockdown and around 1,900 people have been quarantined, according to the China Daily newspaper. Precautionary measures are being taken in Shanghai's Pudong district, city officials said on Saturday.

The two new Shanghai infections involved a security inspector at Pudong International Airport and his wife. But district official Li Guohua told a news briefing there were no indications so far that these were linked to a previously reported local transmission involving another airport worker. Mainland China reported another 18 cases of asymptomatic cases on Nov. 20, up from 14 on the previous day.

It has so far reported an accumulated total of 86,414 COVID-19 cases, with the official death toll at 4,634.