Citizens line up for nucleic acid test at a testing site in Changchun, northeast China's Jilin Province, March 20, 2022. Photo:Xinhua

A prefecture bordering North Korea and Russia became the first region in the Omicron-hit Jilin Province to clear all lockdown communities, signaling that the province is moving a step closer to achieving the dynamic-zero goal, according to a press conference on Thursday.

The last community in Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture has lifted its lockdowns as no new cases were reported during the past 14 days. The prefecture will work to gradually resume production and business operations, and restore the normal lives of its residents, the local government announced. 

The lifting of the lockdown in Yanbian Prefecture brings hope to the province that the Omicron epidemic can be controlled, even though it has spread into local communities.  

On Wednesday, the daily tally reported in Jilin Province was 890 confirmed cases and 1,546 asymptomatic cases, the provincial health commission reported on Thursday.

The overall trend is improving, yet the current situation is still grim, observers said. 

The continuous increase in the number of new infections in Changchun, Jilin Province has been curbed. In the epidemic-stricken Jiutai district of Changchun, positive cases have been in single-digit ranges, the latest three days of nucleic acid testing results showed, Zhang Baozong of the Jilin provincial government said at Thursday's press conference. 

As a bid to achieve dynamic-zero cases, the Jiutai district of Changchun and other areas of the city rolled out a fresh round of nucleic acid testing on Thursday. Thursday was the deadline that the Changchun government had set for the goal of no community infections in the main areas of the city, and screening out all positive cases in communities.

On Wednesday, 522 new confirmed cases were cured and discharged from hospitals in Jilin, and 689 asymptomatic cases were released from quarantine. The number of people discharged from hospitals or released from quarantine for six consecutive days exceeded the number of new cases, local officials said on Thursday.

The city is entering its final sprint for achieving the dynamic-zero status, as the number of newly infected people in Jilin city showed a significant downward trend recently, officials said. 

Li Luyao, a medical worker at one of the makeshift hospitals in the city of Jilin, told the Global Times he is quite positive toward the epidemic fight in Jilin city. His makeshift hospital has been receiving fewer patients in recent days and may have space to receive patients from neighboring Changchun city instead. 

"I have been working here for some 30 days… almost reached my limit. Given the epidemic situation, we volunteers are quite confident that we can return home before May." 

Both Jilin city and Changchun city have been announcing "virus-free" communities and villages if they report zero new cases for the past 14 days and all residents in the communities and villages test negative for the COVID-19. 

A Changchun-based health expert told the Global Times on condition of anonymity on Thursday this is a move to facilitate residents to resume work, production and business in the near future and engage in the coming spring planting season in the major corn-growing hub.