Residents in Chongqing are being asked not leave the city unless travel is urgent as it works to curb the spread of COVID-19 infections to other places, the city's prevention and control headquarters said on Tuesday.

Chongqing reported 126 new local confirmed COVID-19 cases and 2,688 new asymptomatic carriers on Tuesday, the local health commission said on Wednesday.

Local officials reiterated that Chongqing, a mega city of 32 million people, is facing "unprecedented difficulty" in curbing the virus since the outbreak began on Nov 1.

According to the notice released on Tuesday, residents living in quarantine and closed-loop management, areas with a high risk of infection or communities with people testing positive within seven days should not leave Chongqing.

For people who must leave the city, negative nucleic test results and some other documents are required.

In response to increases in infections, Chongqing has transformed a city exhibition center into makeshift hospital. On Tuesday, part of a makeshift hospital in the city's Yuelai International Exhibition Center was opened for use. It is designed with 12,000 beds.