A man rides a bicycle against snowfall in Mohe City, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, April 19, 2020. A snowfall swept Mohe, China's northernmost city, on Sunday. Photo:Xinhua

Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province on Saturday reported one new confirmed case, when a 70-year-old man who tested negative for COVID-19 seven times under isolation turned to be positive. 

According to Heilongjiang health authorities, the man, surnamed Chen, the only new case confirmed in the province on Saturday, has been suffering from colon cancer, hypertension and long-term occupational lead poisoning. He had been put under quarantine as a close contact since April 9 in a hospital in provincial capital Harbin, showing negative test results seven consecutive times but testing positive for coronavirus in his eighth nuclear acid test. 

It is not known why the man was not discharged from hospital after seven negative tests. The man is now under treatment in a hospital. 

Heilongjiang reported 559 domestically transmitted cases as of Sunday morning, and there are still 10 existing domestically transmitted cases within the province after 10 people were released from hospitals on Saturday.

Heilongjiang reported no imported cases from overseas on Saturday, with 31 imported infections and seven cases of asymptomatic infections currently reported in the province.

Global Times