Health authorities in East China's Anhui province confirmed the discovery of two locally transmitted cases of COVID-19 on Thursday evening.

The confirmation followed a positive nucleic acid test result being identified at Shili Hospital in the province's Lu'an city early that morning among samples collected routinely from patients.

The authorities double-checked the result and confirmed the case was locally transmitted, the municipal health commission said.

The case involved a woman who works in a local photography studio who had not recently traveled outside the province.

An epidemiological survey launched after the positive test result located another person who tested positive. That person had attended a training program at the photography studio.

One of those who tested positive had traveled to Feixi county, near Hefei, the capital of Anhui, on May 8.

Measures have been introduced in both Lu'an and Hefei and close to 200 close contacts of the two people involved in the cases are being monitored.