Heilongjiang confirms another four COVID-19 cases, taking total to 38

Heilongjiang province reported four new locally transmitted confirmed cases of COVID-19 on Saturday and two new local asymptomatic carriers, the province's health commission said on Sunday.

All six were found in Harbin, the provincial capital, or the city of Suihua, it said in a statement.

Harbin's Songbei district, Bayan county and Mulan county each reported one new confirmed case. The remaining confirmed case and the asymptomatic cases were discovered in Suihua.

By Friday, 34 local cases had been reported in Harbin, with 33 of them in Bayan. But a new confirmed case was later found in Suihua, indicating that the recent outbreak had begun to show signs of spreading, China Central Television reported on Sunday.

It added that the prevention and control situation is still serious and complex.

The novel coronavirus risk in regions under the jurisdiction of the Xinglong Forest Bureau in Bayan was elevated to high on Saturday, Harbin's epidemic prevention and control headquarters said, and five more residential communities in Bayan and Mulan were raised to medium risk on Sunday.

Ke Yunnan, deputy director of Harbin's health commission, told a news conference on Sunday that a second round of nucleic acid testing across the city was completed on Saturday, and a third round started on Sunday.

The cases in Suihua were identified after testing was conducted on close contacts of a previously confirmed case, local officials said at a news conference in Suihua on Sunday morning.

They have all been transported to designated hospitals for medical observation and treatment.

"All related departments in Heilongjiang should fulfill their responsibilities and strive to control the epidemic before the National Day holiday and curb the spread of the disease," Ma Xiaowei, head of the National Health Commission, said at a conference on Friday morning after his arrival in Heilongjiang.

Since the first case in the latest outbreak was reported on Sept 20, Heilongjiang has reported 38 local confirmed cases and two asymptomatic carriers.