HOHHOT, March 19 (Xinhua) -- North China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region on Thursday became the latest in a crop of Chinese provincial-level regions that have zero COVID-19 patients.

After receiving two nucleic acid tests, the last infected patient in the region was announced cured on Thursday, with both tests coming back with a negative diagnosis of the disease.

The region had reported a total of 75 confirmed cases of novel coronavirus with 74 cured and one death.

The regional health commission said the cured patients need to stay under quarantine in designated hospitals for another two weeks. They will be discharged after receiving medical checks and nucleic acid tests again.

There have been no new confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Inner Mongolia for 29 consecutive days, although 41 people are still under medical observation in the region for having close contacts with infected cases from other provinces and regions or imported from foreign countries.