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BEIJING: Wuhan, the epicenter of the Covid-19 (coronavirus) outbreak in China reported on Monday (May 11), its first group of infections since a blockade was lifted in the central city of China a month ago, fueling concerns of a broader resurgence of disease
The new infections add a layer of caution to efforts to reduce restrictions related to the coronavirus 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 the day before in the first confirmed case in the city since April 3.
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.
Hundreds of asymptomatic cases in Wuhan, which was released on April 8 from a one-month shutdown, 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 reopened its Shanghai Disneyland park on Monday, albeit 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 confirmed general Covid-19 infections from May 10-17, the largest daily increase since April 28.
Of the new cases, seven were called imported cases in the northern China region of Inner Mongolia involving travelers from abroad, compared to two reported a day earlier.
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 with that designation so far, after all of the country’s cities were declared low-risk days earlier.
One of the three confirmed cases in the 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.
In China, the number of new asymptomatic cases of Covid-19 fell to 12 on May 10 from 20 reported the day before. – Reuters
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