China reports 328 new locally transmitted COVID-19 cases in July: official

BEIJING, July 31 (Xinhua) -- China reported 328 new locally transmitted COVID-19 cases in July, close to the total of such cases reported in the previous five months, a health official said Saturday.

Several places in China have recently seen cluster infections linked to imported cases, said Mi Feng, spokesperson for the National Health Commission (NHC), at a press conference.

In July, 14 provinces reported new locally transmitted confirmed cases or asymptomatic cases, Mi said.

As the highly contagious Delta variant continues to spread globally, China is facing mounting pressure to guard against the importation of the virus.

Since the beginning of July, China has seen an average of 27 daily new imported cases, Mi said.

Data released by the NHC showed Saturday that more than 1.63 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines had been administered in China by Friday.

As of Wednesday, a total of 150 million people aged 60 and above in the country had been vaccinated against COVID-19, said He Qinghua, another official from the NHC, at the press conference.

As China is gradually pushing ahead with the vaccination program among minors aged between 12 and 17, around 12.48 million of the population in this age group had been inoculated as of Wednesday, the official said.