New coronavirus cases reported in Heilongjiang province

Heilongjiang province reported 40 new locally transmitted confirmed cases and 50 asymptomatic carriers of COVID-19 on Wednesday night, according to the province's health commission.

Among the 40 confirmed cases, 36 were reported in Suihua city's Wangkui county, where the first asymptomatic case was reported on Sunday in the recent outbreak, Fang Qingwei, deputy director of the health commission said at a news conference.

Two cases were reported in Heilongjiang's capital city Harbin and the other two were formal asymptomatic carriers reported in Beilin district of Suihua.

The National Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's full virus gene sequencing results showed the virus is completely similar with the strain circulating in the recent outbreak in Dalian, Liaoning province, said Dong Wenqin, deputy mayor of Suihua, adding that further epidemiological investigations are underway.

"Huiqi village in the county has been adjusted to a high-risk area for COVID-19 from medium-risk area," she said. "Wangkui county has been classified as a medium-risk area."

Wangkui has completed the first round of large-scale coronavirus tests covering 247,904 residents on Wednesday, said Dong.

As of Wednesday night, the province had reported 57 confirmed and 91 asymptomatic cases since Sunday.