By 2 pm on Sunday, Longyao county in Xingtai, North China's Hebei province, had reported two COVID-19 cases and an asymptomatic carrier. These are the first cases reported outside of Nangong, the virus-hit, county-level city in Xingtai, according to information released at a press conference on Sunday night.

The cases need to be confirmed by upper-level authorities, those at the conference added.

The three cases tested positive for coronavirus during testing by a private company, which was appointed to help with part of a second round of mass testing in the city.

It reported all of its samples were negative to local government on Jan 14, when actually it hadn't finished the testing.

Jinan Huaxi Medical Testing Co, a company from Jinan in East China's Shandong province, reported two days later that it found positive results, those at the conference said. Its manager had been controlled by a local public security organ and further investigation regarding possible misconduct is underway.

Xingtai city started to report local COVID-19 cases on Jan 3. As of Saturday, all of the city's over 40 confirmed cases are from Nangong.