FUZHOU - Xianyou county in East China's Fujian province has classified Fengting town as a COVID-19 high-risk area after new local infections were reported.

Since Sept 10, Fujian has reported 21 locally transmitted confirmed COVID-19 cases, mostly in Xianyou county. The province also has 21 locally transmitted asymptomatic carriers under medical observation, according to the provincial health commission.

The COVID-19 response headquarters of Xianyou has advised residents to work from home and wear masks on public transportation, and has banned large gatherings.

The operation of the county's indoor entertainment venues such as museums and movie theaters have been suspended. Also, customer flow has been restricted in supermarkets and other essential services providers, according to the headquarters.

The city government of Putian reported the viral genome sequencing of 19 relevant cases in the outbreak has preliminarily identified the strains as the highly infectious Delta variant.