Dalian, Liaoning province, has collected more than 1.68 million residents' samples for nucleic acid testing since a new outbreak in the city was identified on Wednesday, a health official said at a news conference on July 27.

The port city identified 14 COVID-19 infections transmitted by people symptoms and 32 new asymptomatic cases as of Sunday, said Zhao Lian, deputy director of the Dalian Health Commission.

The total number of confirmed cases with symptoms climbed to 38 since Wednesday. Asymptomatic cases climbed to 32. All the individuals are in stable condition and being treated at the designated hospital — Dalian Sixth People's Hospital.

Of the 38 cases with symptoms, three were mild and one was severe, Zhao said.

The city has set up 1,928 sites to collect body fluid samples. Every day, local health authorities dispatch more than 3,300 medical workers to help with the collection work, she said.

On Sunday, the city announced that it would arrange free nucleic acid tests for all residents to help contain the spread of the coronavirus.

Zhao said that Liaoning province and the central government have organized a team of medical experts to help guide the work and strengthen treatment capacity.

Dalian has created an overall plan for the city's medical forces, establishing a joint medical treatment group to conduct daily consultations with all confirmed patients, assessing each person's condition regularly, applying traditional Chinese and Western medicine appropriately and counseling patients as needed.

The city now has 409 beds for COVID-19 patients. The designated hospital is preparing another 111 beds, and Dalian has reserved 860 spare beds, Zhao said.

On Sunday, 57 new locally transmitted COVID-19 cases were reported on the Chinese mainland, the National Health Commission said in its daily report.

Of those, 41 were reported in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, 14 in Liaoning province and two in Jilin province. The two cases in Jinlin originated in Dalian.