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BEIJING (Reuters) – Chinese authorities reported on Sunday what could be the start of a new wave of coronavirus cases in northeast China, with a city in Jilin province reclassified as high-risk, the top of a system. three-level zoning.
Jilin officials raised the risk level for the city of Shulan from high to medium, after raising it to medium just the day before after a woman tested positive on May 7.
Eleven new cases in Shulan were confirmed on May 9, all of them members of her family or people who came into contact with her or members of her family.
Shulan has increased virus control measures, including blocking residential complexes, banning non-essential transportation and closing schools, the Jilin government said.
The new cases increased the total number of new confirmed cases in mainland China from May 9 to 14, according to the National Health Commission on Sunday, the highest number since April 28.
Among them was the first case for more than a month in Wuhan City, central Hubei Province, where the outbreak was first detected late last year.
Although China had officially designated all areas of the country as low risk last Thursday, the 14 new cases represent a jump from the single case reported the previous day.
In addition to the Jilin cluster case, Harbin, the capital of the northeast province of Heilongjiang, confirmed a new case.
The 70-year-old patient had been quarantined in a hospital since April 9 and had tested negative seven times before the results were positive on May 9, the Heilongjiang Health Commission said Sunday.
Shenyang, capital of neighboring Liaoning province, also confirmed a new case on Sunday, a 23-year-old boy who traveled to Shenyang on May 5 from Jilin.
ASYMPTOMATIC CONVEYORS
Equally worrying in China is the unknown number of asymptomatic virus carriers that show no clinical signs of infection, such as fever or cough.
Asymptomatic carriers are detected mainly through contact tracking or health checks.
The new Wuhan case, the first reported at the epicenter of the China outbreak since April 3, was previously asymptomatic, according to the Hubei Provincial Health Commission.
The 89-year-old man had not left his residential complex in the Dongxihu district since the Lunar New Year in late January. His wife also tested positive, although she showed no symptoms, the Wuhan Municipal Health Commission said.
The residential complex has had 20 confirmed cases, and experts say the new infection was mainly due to previous community infections.
After the case was confirmed, medical officials performed nucleic acid tests on residents of the compound and found five asymptomatic infections.
Infections highlight the continued potential of new groups of infections due to carriers who do not look ill or have a fever.
On Sunday, Dongxihu District’s risk level rose from medium to low.
The National Health Commission said the number of new asymptomatic cases stood at 20 on May 9, the highest since May 1 and compared to 15 the day before.
China does not include asymptomatic cases in its official count of confirmed infections.
The total number of confirmed cases of coronavirus in mainland China reached 82,901 as of May 9, while the total number of deaths from the virus was 4,633, according to the commission.
(Report by Judy Hua, Yew Lun Tian, and Ryan Woo; Editing by Chris Reese, Kenneth Maxwell, and Gareth Jones)
