China has registered 103 new COVID-19 infections over the past 24 hours, the biggest daily increase in over five months as the number of cases in Hebei province that surrounds the capital of Beijing continues to grow, China's National Health Commission said on Monda
BEIJING (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 11th January, 2021) China has registered 103 new COVID-19 infections over the past 24 hours, the biggest daily increase in over five months as the number of cases in Hebei province that surrounds the capital of Beijing continues to grow, China's National Health Commission said on Monday.
On Saturday, the authorities of two Chinese cities of Shijiazhuang and Xingtai located in the Hebei province called on the citizens not to leave their houses for a week to contain the new outbreak of the disease.
"On Jan 10, 31 provincial-level regions and the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps on the Chinese mainland reported 103 new cases of confirmed infections," the commission said, adding that 82 out of 103 cases were registered in Hebei province.
In addition, there were 76 asymptomatic cases detected over the given period. China lists asymptomatic COVID-19 patients separately in its official case count.
The commission noted that 18 people have been discharged home after recovering from the disease.
According to a statement from the Hebei Health Commission, 77 out of the 82 new confirmed patients were from the city of Shijiazhuang, where a cluster of COVID-19 cases has been identified since the beginning of the new year.
All the 49 asymptomatic patients were also from Shijiazhuang, the statement said.
As of Sunday, Hebei province has 265 confirmed COVID-19 patients and 203 infected patients who remained asymptomatic.
In response to the new outbreak in Shijiazhuang, local authorities have placed the city under total lockdown with all transportation links being cut off. Subways and buses have also been shutdown in Shijiazhuang, as local residents have been recommended to stay home for at least another week after the city completed a citywide COVID-19 test campaign last week.
Chinese public health experts suspected that the new COVID-19 outbreak in Shijiazhuang was triggered by infected patients arriving from overseas, as the airport next to Shijiazhuang served as a transportation hub for passengers arriving from Russia.
According to local media reports, the first cluster of patients in Shijiazhuang emerged after the group attended a wedding ceremony in a hotel right next to the airport in early January.
Amid fears of the new COVID-19 infections could spread to other Chinese cities, local authorities in many cities have introduced restrictions on people returning home for the upcoming Chinese New Year's holidays in February.
According to the China's National Health Commission, the country has registered 87,536 COVID-19 cases and 4,634 fatalities since the start of the pandemic.
