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| The City of Wuhan in China |
The epilogue of the novel coronavirus outbreak in China, Wuhan, on Monday reported its first group of coronavirus infections since the lockout was lifted in the central Chinese city, raising concerns about a widespread resurgence of the disease.
The new infections prompted cautions and people to go back to work amid efforts to ease restrictions related to coronavirus across China.
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 who was confirmed to be in the city more than a month before 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 should solve the risk of rebound.'
Most of the confirmed cases were previously classed as asymptomatic with people who test positive for the coronavirus and were able to spread it to other people but do not show any visible symptoms such as fever.
The number of asymptomatic cases in China is not known, as they only appear on health officials' radars when they show positive during tests performed as part of contact tracing and health screenings.
Unless they exhibit signs of infection, China does not currently include asymptomatic cases in its overall tally of confirmed cases at 82,918. There have been 4,633 deaths in Mainland China.
According to the city's Health Authority, hundreds of anomalous cases in Wuhan, which were released from a one-month lockdown on April 8, are currently being monitored.
Thanks to a nationwide regime of screening, testing, and quarantine, the number of new cases recorded in China since April has been small compared to thousands.
The Chinese authorities announced on Friday that China would slowly reopen theaters, museums, and other recreational venues, although restrictions including mandatory reservations and a limit on numbers would apply.
Shanghai has already reopened some nighttime entertainment spots such as discotheques. Walt Disney Co (DIS.N) reopened its Shanghai Disneyland Park to a small number of visitors on Monday.
In the last two months, new outbreaks in China have developed mainly in residential compounds or hospitals.
South Korea is also reeling from a wave of new cases, although nightclubs and bars have triggered the most outbreaks there.
The Wuhan cases helped push the total new Kovid-19 infections confirmed from 10 to 17 May, with the highest daily increase since 28 April.
Northeast Jilin Province, which on Saturday reported a group of infections in one of its cities, Shulan, reported three additional local cases.
Shulan has been characterized as a high-risk region, currently the only place in China with that designation.
Shulan Mayor Jin Hua said, "We are now in a wartime mode."
Since the weekend, Schulen has imposed a lockdown on its 600,000 residents, with only one household member allowed to buy things they need every day.
On May 10, one of the three confirmed cases in Jilin province was from Shulan.
The other two were from the city of Jilin exposed through contact tracing of people who had been in contact with earlier Shulan cases.
Nearby Liaoning and Heilongjiang reported one case each, adding to concerns about the resurgence of the outbreak in the region.
A 70-year-old patient in Heilongjiang's capital, Harbin, tested negative seven times before the results came back positive.
Among the new cases, seven were cases imported into the northern Chinese region of so-called Inner Mongolia involving travelers from abroad.
In China, the number of asymptomatic Kovid-19 cases increased to 12 on May 10, compared to 20 reported a day earlier.
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