Hebei province fights COVID-19 cases

A village of Shijiazhuang city in Hebei province has become a high-risk area for COVID-19, the only one in the mainland, after the province reported 14 new local confirmed cases and 30 asymptomatic carriers, triggering the province to fight against the virus.

Along with Xiaoguozhuang village, the country's only high-risk zone, a total of four districts and villages from Shijiazhuang and Xingtai cities have been labeled as medium-risk zones as of Tuesday night.

Hebei has seen the rising cluster infection since the first confirmed case reported on Sunday, with 44 COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, up from 17 cases including 4 confirmed ones on Monday, data from the provincial health commission showed.

The first confirmed case was found in Xiaoguozhuang village, Gaocheng district in Shijiazhuang on Saturday, where a 61-year-old woman lives and mostly stayed in the village except for visiting her sister and attending a wedding ceremony.

In the new confirmed cases, some also attended wedding ceremonies, according to the tracking records released from the health authorities.

Currently, the source of origin in the recent infections is under investigation.

Xiaoguozhuang village where the first case was found, and 19 villages in Gaocheng district have been locked down since Monday, allowing no one to leave or enter except for special reasons like suffering illness, according to the Shijiazhuang city.

In addition, more communities in Shijiazhuang downtown have seen tougher controls like showing passing cards and health status, according to a report by China Central Television.

In response to the rising infection in cities of Hebei province, classes at many schools, especially kindergartens, have been suspended as of Tuesday.

Hebei University in Baoding city neighboring Shijiazhuang has started its winter vacation since Tuesday, which is scheduled to last until the end of February.

In Nangong, another Hebei city with rising confirmed cases, the government has started a mass testing for its around 500,000 residents since Sunday.

However, the provincial or city governments didn't release more details of cases and future plans as of Tuesday afternoon, causing an increase in public calls for the official release of such details.

Hebei should learn the experience we gained last year and release the information as soon as possible, Xinhua Daily Telegraph commented.

To make sure that accurate information about the outbreak can be accessed by more residents, authorities in Hebei should actively respond to the public's concerns, which can avoid unnecessary panic and help prevention and control of the epidemic, it added.