SHANGHAI, July 7 (Xinhua) -- Around 50,000 candidates in Shanghai sat for the college entrance exam, or gaokao, on Thursday, one month later than their peers in other parts of China due to a local COVID-19 resurgence this spring.

The annual national exam normally kicks off on June 7, but Shanghai announced the decision to postpone it to July 7-9 in May, as the city was battling local COVID-19 flareups.

All candidates had been tested for COVID-19 twice over the past three days. Those who are currently under quarantine, or are found with a fever before entering the examination centers, among other unusual circumstances, shall take the exam in prearranged isolated rooms, according to the municipal education authorities.

Candidates are required to take the nucleic acid test on Thursday and Friday at the exam site, and they shall undergo another round of testing on Saturday back in their residential community after the exam is over.

Shanghai reported 32 confirmed locally transmitted COVID-19 cases and 22 local asymptomatic carriers on Wednesday, the municipal health commission said Thursday.