North China city Shijiazhuang finds 11 COVID-19 cases in mass testing

SHIJIAZHUANG - Shijiazhuang, the capital city of north China’s Hebei Province, has found 11 COVID-19 cases since it launched citywide nucleic acid testing on Wednesday, local authorities said at a press conference Thursday. As of 12 a.m. Thursday, the city had sampled more than 6.1 million people, and done nucleic acid testing on 2.42 million people, said Meng Xianghong, deputy mayor of Shijiazhuang.

The city has increased 2,100 people for sampling and testing, and optimized the process of sampling to make it more convenient for the people and reduce the gathering of crowds, she said. The worst-hit Gaocheng District of Shijiazhuang has completed its mass testing, with over 670,000 people finishing nucleic acid testing, according to Meng. The province reported 51 new locally-transmitted COVID-19 cases and 69 asymptomatic cases on Wednesday, the provincial health commission said Thursday, with 50 of these cases reported in Shijiazhuang.

(Xinhua)