Hebei reports 20 new local COVID-19 cases

The current epidemic in Hebei province appears to be under control, as new COVID-19 cases for the day were found in places like centralized quarantine centers and closed-off villages or communities, the province's top officials said at a meeting on COVID-19 prevention and control on Wednesday night.

The province's single-day rise of local confirmed COVID-19 patients in recent days had seen a clear decrease. It identified 20 new confirmed cases and four asymptomatic carriers on Wednesday, the third day where the number was less than 50 (five previous days reporting 19, 35, 54, 72 and 90), according to the Hebei Health Commission.

The province also discharged eight COVID-19 patients and 17 asymptomatic carriers from hospitals and quarantine centers who had recovered on Wednesday, increasing the total recoveries to 65 since Jan 13, when the first recoveries were discharged.

After accounting for new infections and recoveries, its current caseload of confirmed patients is 830 with 150 asymptomatic carriers still under medical observation, the commission reported on Thursday morning.

Among all COVID-19 patients in Hebei, there were nine in acute condition and 30 with severe symptoms.

All new cases are in Shijiazhuang, the provincial capital, with most in Gaocheng district, the worst-hit place in the city. Among the 20 new cases, five were previously diagnosed as asymptomatic carriers and the rest had been in centralized quarantine before testing positive, according to their movement information disclosed by local authorities.

Two communities in the city, including an apartment building of Hebei Chest Hospital — one of the designated hospitals for treating COVID-19 patients — were listed as medium-risk areas for infections. As of Thursday, Hebei had three high-risk areas and dozens of medium-risk areas.

The province has reported new cases for 19 consecutive days since this new outbreak of COVID-19 started at the beginning of the year. Residents in Shijiazhuang and Xingtai, another virus-hit city, are in the process of administering a third round of citywide nucleic acid testing that started on Wednesday.