China reports 17 new COVID-19 cases

Some members of the group reportedly tried in vain to escape in order to avoid a mandatory 14-day quarantine following the possible exposure, the outlet reported.

They were filmed pushing as the officials - wearing plastic face shields - linked arms to keep them in line.

Videos shared Sunday night on social media appeared to show a large crowd at the airport trying to push their way into a multi storey auto park where the testing was taking place and being held back by a row of people wearing full hazmat suits.

Authorities made the decision to mass-test airport staff late Sunday and early Monday morning after the two workers were diagnosed, according to Chinese media.

Overnight yesterday into today, workers in full protective gear ushered Pudong International Airport staff into a multi-storey vehicle park to have the virus test, with videos posted online by Shanghai health authorities showing scores of people filing into the facility.

A team of experts are tracking people who may have been exposed and are taking appropriate preventative measures, it added.

Inner Mongolia's health authority said on Saturday it had confirmed two new coronavirus cases in Hulunbuir city on the Chinese border with Russian Federation.

Authorities at Shanghai Pudong International Airport continued testing airport workers today after multiple locally transmitted coronavirus cases were reported in the southern city over the weekend.

Health officials have tested thousands of staff at Pudong International Airport since a small cluster of Covid-19 cases in the city was linked to several cargo handlers.

The domestically transmitted cases were reported in Tianjin and Shanghai, the commission said in its daily report.

Hundreds of flights were canceled at Shanghai's Pudong airport, one of the world's busiest transport hubs, as mass testing was launched Sunday for more than 17,719 freight employees at the airport.

The other confirmed case, a 30-year-old woman surnamed Zhang, is the wife of a previously confirmed COVID-19 case surnamed Wang.