SHANGHAI (Reuters) – Mainland China reported 53 new COVID-19 cases on Jan. 7, down from 63 reported a day earlier, the country’s national health authority said on Friday.
The National Health Commission said in a statement that 33 of the 37 locally transmitted infections were in Hebei, the province surrounding Beijing that entered a “wartime mode” earlier this week. Shijiazhuang, Hebei’s capital, banned people from leaving the city in the latest step to curb the spread of the disease.
The commission also reported 57 new asymptomatic cases, down from 79 a day earlier. China does not classify these patients, who have been infected by the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes the disease but are not yet showing any COVID-19 symptoms, as confirmed cases.
(Reporting by Jing Wang and David Stanway; Writing by Se Young Lee; Editing by Christopher Cushing)
