Beijing reported 29 new locally transmitted COVID-19 cases involving a bar in Sanlitun, Chaoyang district, between midnight Thursday to 3 pm Friday, a senior official said at a news conference on Friday afternoon.

Among the 29 cases, 26 of them went to a bar named "Heaven Supermarket" on Monday and Tuesday. Out of the three other cases, one was an employee of the bar and the rest two are related to the other confirmed cases, said Liu Xiaofeng, deputy director of the Beijing Center for Disease Prevention and Control, at the news conference.

"The infected are from 12 districts in Beijing and more than 85 percent of them are under 30 years old," he said.

The occupations of those infected are diverse. Besides, the bar did not strictly follow the epidemic control and prevention measures, including taking temperatures and checking negative nucleic acid results of the guests, which has added the difficulties in containing the virus spread.

Liu expected more close contacts of the newly-reported cases and people who have been to the bar will test positive.