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Wuhan, the epicenter of China’s new coronavirus outbreak, has reported on its first group of infections since a blockade was lifted in the central Chinese city a month ago, fueling concerns of a broader resurgence of the disease.
The new infections sounded cautious amid efforts to ease coronavirus-related restrictions in China as companies restart and people return to work.
Wuhan reported five new confirmed cases, all of which live in the same residential complex. One of them was the wife of an 89-year-old male patient reported a day earlier in the first confirmed case in town in more than a month.
“Currently, the task of epidemic prevention and control in the city is still very heavy,” the Wuhan Health Authority said in a statement. “We must resolutely contain the risk of being obligated.”
All of the latest confirmed cases have previously been classified as asymptomatic, people who test positive for the virus and are capable of infecting others, but do not show clinical signs such as fever.
The number of asymptomatic cases in China is unknown, as they only appear on the radar of health officials when they show positives during tests conducted as part of tracking contacts and health checks.
China does not include asymptomatic cases in its overall confirmed case count, currently at 82,918, until they show signs of infection. Mainland China has reported 4,633 deaths.
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Hundreds of asymptomatic cases in Wuhan, who was released on April 8 from a multi-month blockade, are being monitored, according to the city’s health authority.
The number of new cases reported in China since April has been small compared to the thousands confirmed every day in February, thanks to a national detection, testing and quarantine regime.
The government said on Friday that China will gradually reopen cinemas, museums and other recreational venues, although restrictions will apply including mandatory bookings and a limit on the number.
Shanghai has already reopened some nighttime entertainment venues like nightclubs. Walt Disney Co today reopened its Shanghai Disneyland park to a small number of visitors.
New outbreaks in China in the past two months have mainly developed in residential complexes or hospitals.
South Korea is also battling a wave of new cases, although the most recent outbreaks there began in nightclubs and bars.
Wuhan’s cases helped fuel new general Covid-19 infections confirmed May 10-17, the largest daily increase since April 28.
Northeast Jilin province, which reported a group of infections on Saturday in one of its cities, Shulan, reported three additional local cases.
Shulan has been marked as a high-risk area, the only place in China currently with that designation.
“We are now in ‘wartime’ mode,” said Jin Hua, mayor of Shulan, who until the weekend had reported no local cases for more than 70 days.
Shulan has imposed a blockade on its 600,000 residents since the weekend, with only one member of a household allowed to go out every day to buy essential items.
One of the three confirmed cases in Jilin province on May 10 was from Shulan.
The other two were from Jilin City discovered through tracing contacts of people who were in contact with previous Shulan cases.
The nearby Liaoning and Heilongjiang provinces reported one case, adding to concerns about the resurgence of the outbreak in the region.
A 70-year-old patient in Harbin, the capital of Heilongjiang, had tested negative seven times before the results turned positive.
Of the new cases, seven were called imported cases in the northern China region of Inner Mongolia involving travelers from abroad.
Across China, the number of new asymptomatic cases of Covid-19 fell to 12 on May 10 from 20 reported a day earlier.
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