The COVID-19 outbreak in Hebei province is still developing and the situation is serious, experts said, calling for more decisive and strict measures to contain the virus.
Hebei has reported new local cases for five consecutive days since the outbreak started over the weekend. The provincial health commission reported on Thursday another 51 confirmed cases and 69 asymptomatic carriers, bringing the province's total confirmed cases to 90.
Of the newly confirmed cases, 50 come from Shijiazhuang, the provincial capital, and one is from Xingtai.
"Villages should identify, report, isolate and treat cases as early as possible, so as to cut off the transmission," Wu Hao, an expert at the National Health Commission's Advisory Committee for Disease Control and Prevention.
Compared with cities, villages are more vulnerable to outbreaks, because the medical conditions there are not as good, publicity is limited and there are more elderly people and children, whose health awareness is relatively low, he added.
To lower the risk of virus spread, all communities and villages in Shijiazhuang, the provincial capital, have been under closed-off management since Wednesday morning.
The city has also suspended major transport links with outside areas, including long-distance buses and expressways and banned gatherings. People are urged to cancel or delay weddings. Passengers taking trains or flights must have a negative nucleic acid test result within three days of departure.
Citywide testing for all 10.39 million residents in Shijiazhuang started on Wednesday. As of 5 pm, 2 million samples had been collected and 600,000 of those samples had been tested, with seven testing positive for the virus.
