BEIJING — Here are the latest developments from China's COVID-19 control and prevention efforts:

— Beijing reported two new locally transmitted COVID-19 cases in the city's Shunyi district on Jan 15. One of them, 23, was previously an asymptomatic case, while the other, 51, was a close contact of a previously reported confirmed case.

The capital city has also required inbound travelers to undergo health monitoring for seven additional days following 21 days of medical observation.

— Northeast China's Heilongjiang province reported 23 new confirmed cases and 30 asymptomatic infections on Jan 15, the provincial health commission said on Jan 16.

One of the asymptomatic cases was reported in Daowai district in the provincial capital of Harbin. The other new confirmed and asymptomatic cases were all close contacts or secondary close contacts of earlier COVID-19 infections in Huiqi village, Wangkui county.

— Northeast China's Jilin province on Jan 15 reported 13 asymptomatic infections, the provincial health commission said on Jan 16.

All of them were reported in the city of Gongzhuling and related to a previously reported asymptomatic case from the neighboring Heilongjiang province.

— Construction of the first batch of 1,500 rooms for centralized medical observation has been completed in five days in a city in North China's Hebei province.

The center, using the land of a factory, is among the makeshift facilities with a total of 6,500 rooms planned to be urgently built at six locations in the city of Nangong to cut the spread of COVID-19.

Construction of the project started on Jan 10 after a cluster of COVID-19 cases was reported in the city, and the rest of the rooms will be ready within one week.

— Shijiazhuang, provincial capital of Hebei, found 247 residents positive for the novel coronavirus in its second round of citywide nucleic acid testing, authorities said on Jan 16.

In the first round of citywide nucleic acid testing, 354 positive cases were found in 13 county-level areas of Shijiazhuang.

— Residents of Shijiazhuang are required to keep staying at home until Jan 19 to prevent the spread of COVID-19, according to the city's epidemic prevention and control headquarters office.

Previously, all residents in Shijiazhuang and the neighboring Xingtai were asked to stay at home for seven days after citywide nucleic acid testing was completed a week ago.