In the report published on Friday, no deaths were recorded

Northeast China resurgence brings new cases to March level

AP/WAMG XIAO/ XINHUA-Trabajadores - Row for a second round of nucleic acid testing, following new cases of COVID-19 in Shijiazhuang, Hebei Province, China, on 12 January 2021

Updated: 16/01/21

Outbreaks of SARS-CoV-2 in north-eastern China's Hebei and Heilongjiang provinces brought the latest number of new infections to 144, levels not seen in China since early March.

On 2 March, the Commission reported 202 new cases (and 42 deaths), the highest daily number of new infections to date.

In Friday's report, there were no deaths, but 135 local infections out of the 144 total cases. Of those 135, 90 were diagnosed in Hebei, which has several sealed towns and millions of people in quarantine.

AP/MU YU/XINHUA-In this photo published by China's Xinhua News Agency, residents line up to register for coronavirus testing at Shijiazhuang in northern China's Hebei Province on Monday, January 12, 2021

The province of Heilongjiang, bordering Russia, recorded 43 other local infections, the same number as the day before, while isolated cases were also detected in the provinces of Guangxi (south, 1) and Shaanxi (centre, 1).

Positive cases detected in travellers from abroad, known as "imported" cases, numbered 9: in Shanghai (east, 2) and in the provinces of Canton (south-east, 3), Jiangsu (east, 1), Zhejiang (east, 1), Sichuan (centre, 1) and Shaanxi (centre, 1).

In addition, the health authorities also reported the detection of 66 asymptomatic infections (11 of which were from abroad), although Beijing does not include them among the confirmed cases unless they are symptomatic. The total number of these infections under observation is 618, of which 245 are "imported".

AP/WAMG XIAO/ XINHUA-Workers in protective suits spray disinfectant near a residential area in Shijiazhuang, Hebei Province, northern China, on Wednesday, January 13, 2021

In addition, the National Health Commission said that until midnight local time (16:00 GMT Thursday), 28 patients were released after successfully passing COVID-19, and two entered a serious condition.

Thus, the total number of active patients in mainland China was 1,001, 26 of whom are in serious condition.

The institution noted that since the beginning of the pandemic, 87,988 people have been infected in the country, of which 82,352 have been cured and 4,635 have died.

PHOTO/CHINA DAILY -General view shows cranes and workers at the construction site of a centralized quarantine facility in Guying Village, Shijiazhuang, Hebei Province, China, 14 January 2021

The source announced the latest death on 14 January, after almost eight months since 17 May, with no new deaths due to COVID-19 in mainland China, according to official statistics.

To date, 933,875 close contacts with infected persons have been monitored, of which 31,912 remain under observation.

Meanwhile, in the semi-autonomous city of Hong Kong - a fourth wave of infections has occurred in recent months - authorities have reported 29 new cases, bringing the total number of people infected to 9,415 since the start of the pandemic, of whom 161 have died.

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