SHIJIAZHUANG -- Construction of the first batch of 1,500 rooms for centralized medical observation has been completed in five days in a city in North China's Hebei province, local authorities said Saturday.

The center, using the land of a factory, is among the makeshift facilities with a total of 6,500 rooms planned to be urgently built at six locations in the city of Nangong to cut the spread of COVID-19.

Each room with an area of 18 square meters is equipped with a bed, electric heater, toilet and sink. WiFi access is also available.

Construction of the project started on Jan 10 after a cluster of COVID-19 cases was reported in the city, and the rest of the rooms will be ready within one week, according to the local publicity department.

A similar center with a total of 3,000 rooms is being built in the provincial capital Shijiazhuang.

By the end of Friday, there were 643 locally transmitted confirmed cases and two imported cases being treated in hospitals in Hebei, mostly in Shijiazhuang and Nangong, a county-level city under Xingtai city.