Staff workers install facilities at the Huoyan laboratory in a tennis court in Shijiazhuang, north China's Hebei Province, Jan. 8, 2021. The Huoyan, or Fire Eye laboratory, will have a maximum daily nucleic acid testing capability to 1,000,000 samples after completion. (Xinhua/Yang Shiyao)

The number of COVID-19 cases in North China's Hebei Province continued to surge Monday, as the province reported 82 new confirmed cases, and medical teams from other provinces including Central China's Hubei Province rushed to help. 

The Chinese mainland reported a total of 103 confirmed cases on Monday, mostly from Hebei, the first time there has been a daily three-digit rise in the number of confirmed cases in more than five months.

Media reports said at least six regions - Beijing, East China's Jiangsu, Zhejiang, North China's Tianjin and Central China's Hubei and Hunan- had dispatched medical teams to Hebei amid the outbreak in at least two cities - Shijiazhuang and Xingtai. 

Wuhan, capital of Hubei, once hit hard by the early outbreak, also prepared teams comprised of 22 people specializing in treating severely ill patients and working in Fangcang makeshif hospitals.

On Sunday night, a moveable CT cabin vehicle from Wuhan, the only one in the province, made its way to Hebei. The vehicle can detect COVID-19 patients quickly and be sent quickly to wherever it is needed.

Previous scenes of people from all over the country helping Wuhan are now being replayed in Hebei - some 300 volunteers donated 50 tons of vegetables to Shijiazhuang, Qingdao sent some 200,000 masks and Shanxi transported blood bags to the city, while Beijing sent over 50,000 testing kits and pieces of protective equipment.

In the wake of the Hebei outbreak, two communities from Xingtai raised their emergency response level to medium, bringing the total number of medium-risk regions in the province to 30 as of Monday. There is currently one high-risk region - Shijiazhuang's Gaocheng district.

Beijing, which is surrounded by Hebei, has tightened measures to prevent the virus spreading from Hebei. Multiple expressways to Beijing were closed, and vehicles travelling from Shijiazhuang and Xingtai will be urged to make a return.

On Monday, the majority of the 77 confirmed cases that Shijiazhuang recorded were from Gaocheng, including teachers and students. Many had attended weddings. Xingtai recorded five cases, all from Nangong.

Global Times