A new conference is held on April 5, giving the latest information on Jilin province's COVID-19 prevention and control. [Photo/Jilin news network]

The COVID-19 epidemic has been effectively controlled in Changchun – capital city of Northeast China's Jilin province – with a drop reported in the cases of new infections, according to a provincial news conference held on April 5.

From 04:00 to 24:00 on April 4, the province reported 792 new locally transmitted cases. Of these, 604 were in Changchun, 175 in Jilin city, 10 in Baicheng, two in Baishan, and one was in Siping. There were 1,680 new cases of local asymptomatic infections.

Furthermore, there were 1,466 newly cured patients that have been discharged from hospital, including 968 in Changchun and 455 in Jilin city. In addition, 703 cases with asymptomatic infection were released from medical observation.

Jiutai district in Changchun, once hard hit by COVID-19, is now said to have effectively controlled the epidemic situation. In its fifth round of nucleic acid testing conducted on April 3, only five people in the district were initially screened as being positive.

Jilin city also reported a drop in newly added infection cases.