The latest wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Manzhouli, the largest rail and land port on the China-Russia border – located in North China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region – has reached a turning point, according to the region's health authority.

The city first reported three confirmed COVID-19 cases on Nov 27.

Statistics from the Inner Mongolia Health Commission showed that as of 24:00 midnight on Dec 12, Inner Mongolia had 520 confirmed COVID-19 cases, with 509 cases in Manzhouli.

"Confirmed cases in Manzhouli have been in the single digits in the last two days and they were all discovered from people in centralized or home quarantines within strict control,” according to Xu Hongzhi, director of the Inner Mongolia Health Commission.

The new round of the epidemic had basically been gotten under control and this had ushered in an inflection point, Xu added.

The confirmed cases in Manzhouli have a large age span, with the youngest being 3 months old and the oldest being centenarians, with 85 cases involving people over 60 years old. The proportion of children is relatively high, with 49 cases younger than 14 years old.

Meanwhile, the proportion of critically ill patients over 60 years old is relatively large, while the proportion of critically ill patients who have not been vaccinated is relatively high.

At present, five medical institutions in Manzhouli are engaged in treatment, including two standby hospitals.