The community transmission chain of the latest COVID-19 flare-up in Shenzhen, South China's Guangdong Province, since July 15 has not been cut. The viral gene sequencing completed on all the infections showed that they have the Omicron subvariant BA.2, the local health commission announced on Sunday.

Shenzhen registered 19 new infections on Saturday with nine cases showing symptoms of the virus and 10 asymptomatic infections.

The latest flare-up of COVID-19 in Shenzhen started on July 15, when the city registered five local infections, including two which were identified during mass screening at the community.

Despite the fact that all the individual cases were identified in a timely manner during the early stage of the infection, the transmission chain at the community has not yet been cut off completely with sporadic cases reported at multiple spots, Lin Hancheng, an official from the city's health commission stated at a press briefing on Sunday.

According to Lin, due to the latent transmission routes and the uncertain transmission mode, the possibility of future sporadic cases cannot be ruled out.

The authorities have stressed the need to mobilize all resources and motivate all forces to contain and exterminate the flare-up with the most severe measures and spend the utmost effort to achieve a decisive victory in the battle against the virus.