BEIJING — Here are the latest developments from China's COVID-19 control and prevention efforts:
— Northeast China's Heilongjiang province reported 27 new confirmed COVID-19 cases and 43 asymptomatic infections on Jan 18, local health authorities said on Jan 19.
The cases were all close contacts or secondary close contacts of earlier COVID-19 infections in Huiqi village, Wangkui county, according to the Heilongjiang provincial health commission.
— Beijing reported one new locally transmitted COVID-19 case and one asymptomatic case on Jan 18, the municipal health commission said on Jan 19.
The new confirmed case, aged 63, was reported in the city's Daxing district and was a close contact of a previous case reported in the district.
— Beijing's Daxing district sampled over 470,000 people for nucleic acid tests on Jan 18 as part of an extensive testing campaign in the wake of new COVID-19 cases, local authorities said on Jan 19.
The testing, launched by the district on Jan 18, is expected to cover about 522,000 people in the Tiangongyuan subdistrict, where the new cases were detected, and its surrounding areas.
— Beijing will extend the health observation period to 28 days for inbound travelers from overseas to avoid the import of COVID-19 cases, according to a press conference held by municipal authorities on Jan 19.
The new "14+7+7" model comprises the 14-day centralized medical quarantine, one week of home isolation or centralized quarantine, and another week of health monitoring.
— Northeast China's Jilin province on Jan 18 reported 43 new confirmed COVID-19 cases and 34 new asymptomatic infections, the provincial health commission said on Jan 19.
Of the new confirmed cases, nine were reported in the provincial capital of Changchun and the other 34 in the city of Tonghua. The new confirmed cases include 36 that were previously reported as asymptomatic cases.
— North China's Hebei province reported 35 locally transmitted confirmed COVID-19 cases and two locally transmitted asymptomatic cases on Jan 18, the provincial health commission said on Jan 19.
All the new confirmed and asymptomatic cases were reported in the provincial capital Shijiazhuang. The new confirmed cases include 13 that were previously reported as asymptomatic cases.
— Hebei reported five locally transmitted confirmed COVID-19 cases in the first 10 hours of Jan 19, the provincial health commission said.
One asymptomatic case was also reported during the period. All of the above-mentioned cases were reported in the Gaocheng district of the provincial capital Shijiazhuang, said the commission.
As of 10 am on Jan 19, Hebei had reported 822 locally transmitted confirmed cases, including 771 cases in Shijiazhuang, during the latest resurgence of COVID-19 since Jan 2.
