Yangzhou, Jiangsu province, a city hard hit in the latest COVID-19 outbreak in China, on Friday conducted nucleic acid tests in its downtown area to find those who missed the previous rounds of testing, according to a report by ThePaper, an online news outlet.

Those who do not take part in the unified testing will be recorded as violators in the public credit collection and service platform, which may affect their personal credit, consumption and employment in the future, according to a statement published by the local public security bureau.

In addition, depending on circumstances, they may receive other punishments, including warnings, fines and detention, the statement said.

Jiangsu recorded 18 new locally transmitted confirmed COVID-19 cases on Saturday, all of which were detected in Yangzhou, the provincial health commission said on Sunday. The city has reported 546 local cases since July 20.

According to the provincial education department, elementary and secondary schools in the regions classified as low-risk areas for COVID-19 will start the fall semester on schedule, which usually begins on Sept 1.

For those regions classified as medium- and high-risk areas, the new semester will start 21 days after the risk level is adjusted to low and students should be organized to return to school at different times.

Those schools that have to delay the start of the upcoming autumn semester can provide online courses to students.

All students in the province’s universities and colleges have been asked not to return before Sept 15.

In its capital city, local education authorities said at a Sunday news conference all elementary and secondary schools as well as kindergartens will postpone the term.

"The new semester will start 21 days after all the regions in the city are classified as low-risk areas," Dai Xinghai, deputy director of the Nanjing Education Bureau, said on Sunday. "We will publish the schedule three days in advance."