Ifah Sakinah
Image credit: China News Service
Wuhan – the epicentre of the COVID-19 outbreak in China – reported its first cluster of coronavirus infections after easing restrictions almost a month ago. This triggered fear of a second wave of infections as the country works towards reducing its risk level.
It was the first city in the world to impose a lockdown on its 11 million residents, only springing back to relative normality after 76-days.
According to authorities, the five new cases reported after confirming its first case since 3 April on Sunday, are from the same local community – Sanmin neighbourhood in the Dongxihu district of Wuhan.
All of the latest COVID-19 cases in Wuhan were previously classified as asymptomatic – people who test positive for the virus but do not exhibit clinical signs such as a cough or fever.
Such individuals are capable of spreading the virus. However, China excludes asymptomatic cases in its overall tally of confirmed cases, now at 82,919, until they manifest signs of infection.
Hundreds of the asymptomatic COVID-19 cases are being monitored by Wuhan health authorities.
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Concurrently, Northeast China’s Shulan City in Jilin Province, reported a cluster of infections bringing the total number of domestically-transmitted COVID-19 cases to 13. It has reported no local cases for more than 70 days up until last weekend.
Shulan has been reclassified as a high-risk area, making it the only city in China with that designation.
The new infection chain in Shulan was linked to a 45-year-old female laundry worker at a local public security bureau. However, the source of her infection remains a mystery, as she had no recent travel or exposure history, distressing locals.
Jin Hua, the mayor of Shulan, said the city is in a “wartime” battle against the virus and the local government will implement the strictest measures to curb the spread.
It has reimposed community lockdown while performing contact tracing on those who were in close contact with the newly diagnosed patients.
