Beijing reports 2 new locally-transmitted COVID-19 cases

A medical worker administers a dose of COVID-19 vaccine for a student in Beijing, capital of China, July 21, 2021. (Xinhua/Zhang Chenlin)

BEIJING, Aug. 1 (Xinhua) -- Beijing reported two new locally-transmitted confirmed cases of COVID-19 and one asymptomatic case from 12 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, local authorities said Sunday.

The family of three had once traveled to Zhangjiajie, a city known for its pillar-like mountains in central China's Hunan Province, said Pang Xinghuo, deputy director of the Beijing center for disease control and prevention, at a press briefing.

The three have been sent to a designated hospital for treatment, Pang said, adding 16 close contacts have been put under medical observation.

The Chinese capital earlier reported two locally-transmitted confirmed cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday and Thursday, the first resurgence in months. The married couple had also once traveled to Zhangjiajie.

The couple were infected with the highly infectious Delta variant of the coronavirus, a viral genome sequencing by the Beijing center for disease control and prevention showed.

The Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention found after a comparison that the two cases were highly homologous with the latest cases in Nanjing, capital of east China's Jiangsu Province, showing the same transmission chain, Pang said.