China reports a few new cases of COVID-19

Beijing, January 17

China on Sunday reported 109 new confirmed COVID-19 cases, two-thirds of them in a northern province that abuts Beijing, and no deaths.

There were 72 new cases in Hebei province, where the government is building isolation hospitals with a total of 9,500 rooms to combat an upsurge in infections, according to the National Health Commission.

China had largely contained the virus that first was detected in the central city of Wuhan in late 2019 but has reported hundreds of new infections since December.

The Health Commission on Saturday blamed them on travellers and imported goods it said brought the virus from abroad.

China’s death toll stands at 4,653 out of 88,227 total cases. — AP