Chinese health official warns of COVID-19 rebound

PTI, May 4, 2020, 9:58 AM IST

Beijing: China still faces the risk of COVID-19 rebound as 10 provincial-level regions have reported new locally-transmitted coronavirus cases over the last two weeks, a top health official warned on Monday.

The National Health Commission (NHC) said that three new confirmed COVID-19 cases were reported on Sunday. All three were Chinese arriving from abroad.

Also, 13 new asymptomatic cases, including two imported ones, were reported.

“As of Sunday, 962 asymptomatic cases, including 98 from abroad, were still under medical observation,” the NHC said.

Asymptomatic cases refer to people who are tested COVID-19 positive but develop no symptoms such as fever, cough, or sore throat. However, they pose a risk of spreading the disease to others.

NHC spokesperson Mi Feng said that 10 provincial-level regions have reported new locally-transmitted cases or asymptomatic cases over the last 14 days, which highlighted that risks of a resurgence and even spread of the epidemic still exist, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

Though many offices, businesses, and tourist sites were re-opened in Beijing, some public venues such as cinemas, theatres, and arcades remained closed for epidemic prevention and control, the report added.

The death toll in the country stands at 4,633 as no new fatalities were reported on Sunday.

As of Sunday, the overall confirmed cases in the Chinese mainland reached 82,880 with 481 still undergoing treatment.

The novel coronavirus, which originated from the Chinese city of Wuhan in December last year, has claimed nearly 250,000 lives and infected over 3.5 million people globally, according to Johns Hopkins University data.