Henan province confirmed one locally transmitted COVID-19 case and 28 asymptomatic carriers on Sunday, the provincial Health Commission said on Monday.

The confirmed case was found in Shangqiu. Of the asymptomatic carriers, 27 were found in Zhengzhou, the capital, and one in Zhumadian, the commission said.

"The investigation shows that the virus is highly contagious and has spread quickly in Zhengzhou," Zhang Ruoshi, deputy director of the commission, said at a Saturday news conference. "Most of the locally transmitted cases in Henan are related to No 6 People's Hospital, which was the city's designated hospital for treating imported COVID-19 patients."

Zhao Dongyang, deputy director of the provincial Center for Disease Prevention and Control, said, "After the recent outbreak of the virus, researchers immediately launched virus sequencing and analyzed the strains of recently imported cases. The sequencing showed that the infections were mainly confirmed as the Delta variant."

As of Sunday, the province had reported 13 confirmed cases and 48 asymptomatic carriers since the first subject in the recent outbreak was found positive for COVID-19 on Friday.