Yangzhou, a city in Jiangsu province, is facing a serious and complex COVID-19 control and prevention situation as it is in the midst of a concentrated outbreak, local authorities said.

"Epidemic control and prevention is the top priority of our current work," Jiangsu Governor Wu Zhenglong said in Yangzhou on Saturday.

Jiangsu recorded 38 new locally transmitted confirmed COVID-19 cases on Saturday, including 36 that were detected in Yangzhou, the Jiangsu Provincial Health Commission said on Sunday. Yangzhou has reported 308 local cases since July 28, including six in critical condition and another 19 in serious condition.

Seven areas classified as medium risk for COVID-19 are in Yangzhou's Slender West Lake scenic area.

"A mahjong lounge named Hongyuan located in that area has become the key site for the spread of the recent outbreak," Liu Magen, deputy Party secretary of the scenic area, said on Saturday. "At least 18 locally transmitted confirmed COVID-19 cases have been found to have visited the lounge since July 28."

A 70-year-old woman surnamed Mao was diagnosed as a confirmed case on July 28 after being found to be positive for coronavirus during tests conducted on close contacts of the first confirmed case in Yangzhou. She had often visited the lounge to play mahjong.

A total of 1,553 close contacts in the scenic area have been traced and put under quarantine for medical observation, Liu said.

Data from the Yangzhou city government website shows that over 300 complaints about mahjong lounges were submitted during the past year, covering problems such as poor sanitation and poor epidemic prevention and control, medical newspaper Health Times reported.

"Most of the mahjong enthusiasts are elderly people and don't take preventive measures seriously," one resident told Health Times.

Eight officials from Yangzhou have been punished for failures related to COVID-19 epidemic prevention and control, the city's disciplinary watchdog said in a statement issued on Sunday.

It said three officials from Hanjiang district and five from Guangling district were given punishments that ranged from administrative demerits to notices of criticism.

During the collection of swab samples at a nucleic acid testing spot on July 29 in Guangling, staff members failed to organize orderly testing and deviated from set operating standards. That led to 23 people being infected by a man who was later diagnosed as a locally transmitted confirmed COVID-19 patient on Aug 1.

The case showed that serious problems of formalism and bureaucracy existed among some officials, the statement said.

Elsewhere around the country on Sunday, authorities reported 24 local cases in Henan province, seven in Yunnan province and six each in the provinces of Hubei and Hunan.

Seven villages in Kaifeng, Henan, were named high-risk areas for COVID-19 on Sunday, the city government said.

Meanwhile, six officials in Nanjing, the capital of Jiangsu province, have received severe punishment due to their failures in COVID-19 epidemic prevention and control, the provincial disciplinary watchdog said on Saturday.

Wang Chao, deputy general manager of Eastern Airports, a State-owned company that oversees seven airports in Jiangsu, including Nanjing Lukou International Airport; Yin Yunwen, director of the company's emergency rescue department; and Xu Yongjie, director of the company's ground service department, have been put under investigation by the provincial disciplinary watchdog.

Hu Wanjin, vice-mayor of Nanjing, was given an administrative demerit.