People line up for nucleic acid tests during a COVID-19 screening campaign in the Zhenhai district of Ningbo, Zhejiang province, on Dec 8, 2021. [Photo by Hu Xuejun/for China Daily]

The number of COVID-19 cases in East China's Zhejiang province rose to 59 as of 3 pm Thursday, with two new cases reported in provincial capital Hangzhou according to local health authorities. 

Among them, 24 were confirmed cases, and 35 were asymptomatic. 

The three cities which had reported infection cases, Ningbo, Hangzhou and Shaoxing, had so far conducted a combined 2.028 million nucleic acid tests, said Sun Liming, deputy director of the provincial health commission at a news conference. 

Shaoxing, a city in the north of Zhejiang, on Thursday afternoon upgraded its COVID-19 emergency response to the highest level, with one new case reported in its Yuecheng district. 

The city has so far reported 27 cases, with 18 closely related to a funeral in its Shangyu district, where its first case was reported on Tuesday. 

The provincial authorities have tightened up registration and management on business trips in and out of the province, and urged meetings or social activities planned in the province to be cancelled, postponed or conducted online, in order to avoid human gatherings and better fight the pandemic. 

In Hangzhou, indoor public venues such as bars, chess and card rooms and swimming pools were required to be temporarily shut down starting Thursday afternoon in eight districts, including Xihu, Binjiang, Xiaoshan, Yuhang and Qiantang.