City residents spring into action to tackle the latest COVID-19 outbreak, Xing Yi reports.

People in Shanghai are doing their best to break the transmission chain in the latest outbreak in the city, Gu Honghui, head of the office leading the city's COVID-19 response, said in a news conference on Tuesday.

According to the municipal health commission, there have been more than 1,000 new locally transmitted COVID-19 infections since the start of March, with the majority being asymptomatic.

"The latest outbreak is the toughest challenge to our epidemic prevention and control," says Gu, who is also the deputy secretary-general of the Shanghai municipal government.

"We've detected the virus in places with dense traffic, including shopping malls, schools, hospitals and public toilets," he adds. "We are now at a critical stage and the task of curbing the spread of the virus remains arduous."