In the latest outbreak of COVID-19 in China, 23 more domestically transmitted confirmed cases have been reported in Shufu County of south Xinjiang’s Kashgar Prefecture today which has declared 183 positive cases of the novel coronavirus. All the 23 cases were asymptomatic that were re-categorized as confirmed cases, according to the National Health Commission (NHC) and Xinjiang's Health Commission. China does not recognize asymptomatic cases as confirmed COVID-19 cases. In last two weeks, this is the second cluster after the cases were discovered in Qingdao. The cluster is the biggest in China since more than 300 cases were linked to a wholesale wet market in Beijing in July.

City health authorities completed their COVID-19 testing drive for the 4.75 million inhabitants in the area. As per media reports, Kashgar has been put under restrictions with most of the city put under lockdown except for a handful of supermarkets and mobile food stations. Police officers stood guard at the gates to housing compounds, allowing only essential workers to come and go.

Uygurs account for about 86 per cent of the population of Kashgar city, with the rest being Han Chinese, according to the latest census data.