North West China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region has reported 137 more asymptomatic coronavirus cases in Kashgar prefecture yesterday, after one asymptomatic case was found in the prefecture's Shufu county on Saturday. An official statement from Xinjiang regional health authority said that all the new cases are linked to family members of the asymptomatic case detected on Saturday. However, the source of infection of the first case is unknown, triggering the fear of a community spread.

The new outbreak comes two months after Xinjiang curbed a cluster of infections in regional capital Urumqi in early August. Kashgar is running citywide tests and is hoping to test the entire city population of 4.7 million by Tuesday. The prefecture has initiated the highest level of Emergency Response and expert groups have been dispatched to conduct medical work in the prefecture's Shufu county, where cases reside, said Xinjiang officials.

As per state media, some local communities in Kashgar are under close-loop management. Classes at all primary and secondary schools and kindergartens are suspended until October 30. Stores in the city will be open as usual to ensure enough daily supplies. Recently, East China’s Qingdao city experienced a small outbreak, where 10 million people were tested in just five days.