Monday, May 11, 2020

China reports first coronavirus case in Wuhan since April 3; 14 new infections nationwide



China has reported new coronavirus cases in Wuhan for the first time in over a month.
The Wuhan cases account for 3 of the 14 new cases, with the bulk of the new cases in the northeast city of Shulan. The Jilin province city raised the risk level from low to medium after identifying a case on May 7, and now has raised the risk level to high.
All of the Shulan cases appear to be members of the initial 45-year-old patient’s family or people who came in contact with her, according to AP News.
"Epidemic control and prevention is a serious and complicated matter, and local authorities should never be overly optimistic, wear-weary or off-guard," said Jilin Communist Party Secretary Bayin Chaolu.
The National Health Commission reported the cases on Sunday, citing the highest number of cases since April 28. China had officially designated the risk levels of all areas of the country as low only a week ago.
However, subsequent to the report, other areas in China have reported new cases.
The cities of Harbin in Heilongjiang province and Shenyang in Liaoning province each confirmed a new case. The patient in Harbin is a 70-year-old who had been in quarantine since April 9 and tested negative seven times before results turned positive, according to Reuters.
The patient in Shenyang is a 23-year-old who had recently been in the Jilin province.
The spread indicates that more cases could appear in the coming days due to the asymptomatic nature of the virus. The first Wuhan case has been designated asymptomatic after the patient initially showed no symptoms, and his wife did not show any symptoms after also testing positive.
An additional five asymptomatic cases have been confirmed since then. China, however, does not include asymptomatic cases in its official count of confirmed cases.
The National Health Commission counted 20 asymptomatic cases as of May 9.
The new cases have increased the total number of confirmed cases in mainland China to 82,901, with 4,633 deaths – a number that has not changed since April 26.
The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

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