The health commission director in the city of Qingdao and the director of the local hospital where 12 new cases have been linked were both dismissed.

Chinese health authorities will test all nine million people in the eastern city of Qingdao for the coronavirus this week after nine cases linked to a hospital were found.

Large crowds flocked to tourist destinations across China during Golden Week, a major national holiday.

Hundreds of thousands essential workers and other limited groups of people considered at high risk of infection have been given the vaccine.

Patty Hajdu previously dismissed questions on Chinese data as "conspiracy theories."

Beijing has sought to focus on China's success at overcoming the virus, rather than its origins.

Gao Fu did not say when or how he took the vaccine candidate, leaving it unclear whether he was injected as part of a government-approved human trial.

China reported just 21 new virus cases on Friday, six of them imported, with the rest in the Xinjiang region and Jilin province.

The claim underscores the enormous stakes as China competes with U.S. and British companies to be the first with a vaccine to help end the pandemic

India has largely lifted its nationwide lockdown, and the virus has been spreading at a significant rate, prompting several big cities to impose partial lockdowns.