Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- Between Wednesday and Thursday, 3,000 health workers were mobilized by the Hebei Provincial Health Committee (North China) to assist in conducting citywide testing for coronavirus nucleic acids in Shijiazhuang, the administrative center of Hebei province.

After one confirmed case of local infection with COVID-19 was detected in Hebei province on 2 January, there is a tendency for the rapid spread of this infection, especially in Shijiazhuang city.

According to Xinhua news agency, the Head of the State Health Committee of the People’s Republic of China, Ma Xiaowei, on 5 January, during an inspection trip to Hebei Province, noted that the situation with the COVID-19 epidemic in this province continues to develop rapidly and is a serious challenge for control and preventive work.

In order to contain the spread of the epidemic, quarantine measures have been tightened in Shijiazhuang since 6 January. All residents, with the exception of medical workers, police officers and other specific groups of people, were ordered to go to home quarantine. In addition, it is planned to test the 11 million urban population for COVID-19 nucleic acids in 3 days.

As reported by the city authorities, as of 5 pm on 6 January, 2 million samples were collected from the city’s residents for a coronavirus test, of which 7 were positive.

Hebei Province had 51 new confirmed cases of locally infected COVID-19, as well as 69 new asymptomatic carriers of the coronavirus locally infected, according to the latest official data.