Objective To analyze the epidemiological characteristics of COVID-19 cases in Shayibake district of Urumqi of Xinjiang and provide scientific evidence for the prevention and control of COVID-19 epidemic. Methods A total of 122 cases of COVID-19 reported in Shayibake were studied. Descriptive investigations were conducted retrospectively to understand the age, gender and spatial/temporal distributions of the cases, the characteristics of clusters and the case detection ways. Results A total of 122 COVID-19 cases were reported in Shayibake. The reported infection rate was 16.30/100 000. The 122 cases included 106 confirmed cases (86.89%) and 16 asymptomatic cases (13.11%). The male to female ratio of the cases was 1∶1.35. The cases in Uyghur population accounted for 62.30% and the cases in Han population accounted for 35.25%. The age of the cases ranged from 3 months to 92 years. The median age was 33 years (the interquartile range: 15–49 years). The cases were found in all age groups. The confirmed cases were mainly aged under 60 years (93/106, 87.74%), and the asymptomatic cases were mainly aged under 40 years (15/16, 93.75%). The average age of the confirmed cases was higher than that of the asymptomatic cases (35 vs. 18 years, Z=−2.295, P Conclusion The epidemic of COVID-19 spread rapidly in Shayibake, mainly causing case clusters. The epidemic has been well controlled by effective prevention and control measures.