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Nucleic acid tests for residents in Shijiazhuang, Hebei Province, January 7, 2021. /CFP
The coronavirus is spreading quite fast in north China's Hebei Province, but the overall situation is controllable, said Tong Zhaohui, an expert with the National Health Commission who's now fighting on the frontline in Hebei.
From January 2 to 8, the province reported a total of 127 locally transmitted cases, with 118 in the capital city of Shijiazhuang and nine in its neighboring city, Xingtai. To date, 183 asymptomatic cases have also been detected and put under medical quarantineand observation, local health officials said at a press briefing on Friday afternoon.
As of Friday, a majority of the confirmed cases are asymptomatic or mild, but five are in severe condition and under medical treatment in ICU, according to Tong.
He added that it has only been four or five days since the patients were detected, and their conditions could still change in the next few days. Therefore, all the cases must be closely watched.
Sweeping nucleic acid tests of all citizens have started from Wednesday in Shijiazhuang, an important transport hub home to 11 million people, as well as Xingtai, a city with more than seven million residents.
As of Thursday, 4,856,700 people had been tested in Shijiazhuang, with 289 positive. Xingtai has tested 1,894,900 people, with 15 positive.
The blanket testing in both cities is expected to be completed by Saturday, according to the press briefing.
