The spread of the latest outbreak of COVID-19 in South China's Hainan province has been contained and the situation is taking a positive turn thanks to substantial progress in epidemic prevention and control, said local authorities.

Signs of improvement have been seen in Sanya, at the southern tip of Hainan island and the epicenter of the latest outbreak, Li Wenxiu, deputy director with the Hainan Provincial Health Commission, told a news conference held in Haikou on Friday.

"There was a continuous drop seen from the number of infected cases reported in the three rounds of nucleic acid tests from Monday to Wednesday in Sanya. The number of newly reported infections in high-risk areas continued to decline while a gradual increase of infections in centralized quarantine locations has been recorded," Li told the briefing.

He elaborated that among the 441 local confirmed cases reported on Thursday, 169 were found among people under closed-loop isolation and 232 were found through nucleic acid screening of people with relevant risks. Among the 1,058 local asymptomatic infections, 548 were found in the closed-loop isolation locations while 510 were found in the nucleic acid screening of people with relevant risks.

Among the 13 cities and counties affected by the epidemic, six of them have reported no infection cases over the past 10 days while the situation in the other areas is developing in a scattered manner, said officials at the briefing.

As of Thursday, 799 patients have recovered and have been discharged from hospitals. Currently, there are 14,845 inpatients, including eight in critical condition, nine in severe condition, 100 in less severe condition, 4,873 with mild symptoms, 7,584 asymptomatic carriers and 2,271 unclassified patients, local officials said.

As of Thursday, the number of confirmed and asymptomatic cases in Hainan had risen to 6,235 and 8,987, respectively, since Aug 1. Sanya, the resort city where first case was reported on Aug 1, had registered 4,722 confirmed cases and 6,763 asymptomatic carriers, said the provincial health commission.

Meanwhile, more than 100,000 tourists stuck in the island province had returned home by Thursday, according to the local authorities.