Photo: VCG

Shijiazhuang, the hardest-hit city and also provincial capital in North China's Hebei Province, has completed citywide nucleic acid testing of more than 10.25 million residents, among whom 354 tested positive for COVID-19. Over 11,000 people have been isolated and the city will soon have a second round of citywide screening to spot all potential infections.

Hebei reported 2 new confirmed cases on Saturday, bringing the province's total to 139 confirmed patients and 197 asymptomatic ones, the local health authorities said at a press briefing.

Since Wednesday morning, Shijiazhuang has carried out nucleic acid testing among all its residents, and has by far completed the testing of 10,251,875 people. A total of 354 people have returned positive results, 298 of whom, or 87 percent, are located in Gaocheng district.

Currently, Shijiazhuang has isolated 11,708 people and the region has set up 120 venues for designated quarantine.

The city will soon roll out the second round of citywide COVID-19 screening to spot all potential infections, local authorities said.

However, it is still uncertain whether the turning point of Shijiazhuang's flare-up has appeared, as infections have not declined, and risks for further spread remain. The investigation for the source of the latest round of the resurgence is still ongoing.

Nevertheless, given the declining trend of positive cases during nucleic acid testing in recent days, it can be speculated that infections have been initially controlled and could embrace a downward trend, Yan Xixin, chief expert at a the provincial medical team suggested.

Some 107 medical institutions have built laboratories suitable for nucleic acid testing in Shijiazhuang, local authorities said, indicating that the capacity for testing in the city has reached 3.8 million samples a day. 

All supermarkets and stores in Shijiazhuang have suspended offline business and turned to online orders and deliveries, making sure that daily (5) necessities be guaranteed during the 7-day home quarantine.

Global Times