Coronavirus infections soaring in Hebei for four straight days

06-01-2021 22:55 HKT

China's northern Hebei province has reported new local infections for four consecutive days since this latest new coronavirus outbreak on Sunday.

Gaocheng district in the provincial capital Shijiazhuang became a high-risk area for coronavirus infection, the only such designation on the Chinese mainland, as the province adopted stricter measures to control the coronavirus, including mass testing and suspending classes, China Daily reports.

Shijiazhuang, has started citywide testing of all of its 10.39 million residents on Wednesday.

Experts from the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Health Commission have arrived in Shijiazhuang city and Xingtai city.

In Nangong, where confirmed infections were also found, the local government has tested about 500,000 local residents.

Coronavirus infections in Hebei has surged since it reported the first confirmed local patient on Sunday in the latest outbreak.

The province announced on Tuesday that it has entered a state of war against the new coronavirus.

The provincial civil affairs department called for people to cancel or delay weddings to prevent coronavirus infections in a circular released on Wednesday.

A passing vehicle is checked at an expressway check point in the high coronavirus risk Gaocheng district of Shijiazhuang, the capital of Hebei province on the night of January 5, 2021.

Workers stop a vehicle at an expressway check point in the Gaocheng district of Shijiazhuang, the capital of Hebei province on the night of January 5, 2021. Gaocheng district in Shijiazhuang has been declared a high-risk area for the new coronavirus infections in the mainland.