Authorities in Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong province, are still racing against the clock to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus, as a total of 8,181 local COVID-19 infections were detected in the southern metropolis on Sunday.

The city's Baiyun district has strictly restricted personnel mobility through suspension of all bus stops and metro stations, while the districts of Tianhe, Huangpu and Zengcheng have banned dine-in services in all restaurants starting Monday.

According to Zhang Yi, deputy director and spokeswoman of the Guangzhou health commission, the strict measures were introduced when many nucleic acid testing tubes were found to be abnormal, showcasing the characteristics of a sporadic outbreak, and the transmission chains have not been identified yet in Baiyun district.

Zengcheng district has reported a new cluster and sporadic outbreaks while the risk of imported cases in Tianhe district has risen, Zhang added.

"The infections detected in Guangzhou on Sunday include 296 patients with mild symptoms and 7,885 asymptomatic carriers. Twenty of them were detected at the community level," Zhang said.

Haizhu is still the main battlefield in the fight against COVID-19, as a total of 7,988 infections were reported in the district.

To help block the spread of the virus and cure patients, Guangzhou has started operations for five new designated hospitals reconstructed from major hospitals.

Chen Yongjun, deputy head of Baiyun district, said supplies in his district are adequate after strict measures against COVID-19 have been implemented.

Chong Yutian, a professor from Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, said medical workers in the hospital are now going all out to help treat patients and fight the pandemic.

Liu Hongmei, vice-president of Guangdong Second Provincial General Hospital, said his facility has received and cured a total of 1,981 COVID-19 patients so far, including 515 fully discharged.