Staff members of the local community are seen at Fulitaoyuan residential community in Xisanqi, Haidian district, in Beijing on Nov 11. [Photo by Wei Xiaohao/chinadaily.com.cn]

Beijing reported four locally transmitted cases and one asymptomatic case, all from one family in Haidian district, on early Thursday morning, which is another family cluster during the latest COVID-19 outbreak.

According to the announcement of the Haidian center for disease control and prevention on Thursday, the five patients have been transferred to a designated hospital for medical treatment.

The local authority started mass nucleic acid testing in the district once the cases were reported. Epidemiological investigations and related control measures in the residential communities have also been initiated in the meantime.

Pang Xinghuo, deputy director of the Beijing Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said at a previous news conference that several families in the city have seen infections spread to all members, which showed that the virus is highly infectious.

On Nov 2 and 3, Beijing reported a COVID-19 family cluster of five people including a couple, their two children and the kids' grandmother.

The city's health authority said the two major transmission chains in Beijing during the latest outbreak have been between family members and a group of friends who played cards together.