Wuhan Sees New Cluster Of Covid-19 Cases

Wuhan, the epicentre of the new coronavirus outbreak in China, has reported its first cluster of infections since a lockdown was lifted a month ago, stoking concerns of a wider resurgence of the disease.

The new infections add a layer of caution to efforts to lower coronavirus-related restrictions across China as businesses restart and individuals go back to work.

Wuhan reported five new confirmed patients, all of whom live in the same residential compound. One of them was the wife of an 89-year-old male patient reported a day earlier in the first confirmed case in the city since April 3.

All of the latest confirmed cases were previously classified as asymptomatic, people who test positive for the virus and are capable of infecting others but do not show clinical signs such as a fever.

The number of asymptomatic cases on the mainland is not known, as they only appear on the radar of health officials when they show up positive during tests conducted as part of contact tracing and health checks.

China does not include asymptomatic cases in its overall tally of confirmed cases, currently at 82,918, until they exhibit signs of infection. The mainland has reported 4,633 deaths.

Hundreds of asymptomatic cases in Wuhan, which was released on April 8 from a months-long lockdown, are currently being monitored, according to the city's health authority.

The Wuhan cases helped push the overall new Covid-19 infections confirmed on May 10 to 17, the highest daily increase since April 28.

Of the new cases, seven were so-called imported cases in Inner Mongolia involving travellers from overseas, compared with two reported a day earlier.

Northeastern Jilin province, which on Saturday reported a cluster of infections in one of its cities, Shulan, reported three additional local cases.

Shulan has been marked a high-risk area, the only place on the mainland with that designation so far, after all cities were declared as low-risk days earlier.

One of the three cases confirmed in the province on May 10 was from Shulan. The other two were from the city of Jilin uncovered through contact tracing of people who were in contact with earlier Shulan cases.

Nearby Liaoning and Heilongjiang provinces each reported one case, adding to worries about a resurgence of the outbreak in the region.

A 70-year-old patient in Harbin, capital of Heilongjiang, had tested negative seven times before results turned positive. (Reuters)