Shaanxi residents exposed to virus by case in Hebei test negative

All people living in Shaanxi province who had close contact with a confirmed COVID-19 case in Shijiazhuang, North China's Hebei province, have tested negative for the virus, and have been under quarantine, a senior Shaanxi provincial health official said on Tuesday.

Nine people from Xi'an and Weinan cities of in Northwest China's Shaanxi province were identified as close contacts of a confirmed case in Gaocheng district, Shijiazhuang, the country's only high-risk area on Jan 3. They all had negative nucleic acid test results and have finished quarantine in a designated area as of Monday, said Ma Guanghui, deputy head of the Shaanxi Health Commission, on Tuesday.

They will undergo another 14 day quarantine at their homes, Ma said.

In addition, there are 2,778 people identified as close contacts of the nine, as they took trains, subways, buses and participated in other activities. Tests on these people were all negative, he said. They have been under quarantine as well, he said.

Since Jan 1, authorities in Shaanxi province have traced and tracked 242,700 people who came from Beijing, Hebei and Northeast China's Liaoning and Heilongjiang provinces, which have medium- or high-risk areas, according to the provincial health commission.

Shaanxi has been facing rising risks in COVID-19 prevention and control because there are more people returning and more exchanges of goods, he said.

Wang Mengnan in Xi'an contributed to this story.