Beijing: China reported 17 new coronavirus cases Friday. Among these were 16 asymptomatic ones. All the new cases emerged from the COVID-19 epicentre Hubei province, health officials said Friday.
Details of cases
China’s National Health Commission (NHC) said that one locally transmitted confirmed COVID-19 case was reported in Jilin Province on Thursday.
With the 16 new asymptomatic cases the total number of such infections in the country to 845. All such cases are under medical observation. The total number of asymptomatic infections in Hubei province reached 629, the NHC informed.
Who are asymptomatic people?
Asymptomatic cases refer to people who are 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.
Hubei province, which has a population of over 56 million, was kept under lockdown from January 23 to contain the virus. The provincial capital Wuhan’s lockdown was lifted April 8 after which the city of 11 million limped back to normal.
Hubei has not reported any confirmed COVID-19 case for the last 34 days, state-run ‘Xinhua’ news agency reported. As of Thursday, there were no existing confirmed COVID-19 cases in the province, local health commission said.
Total figures in China
The province has reported 68,128 confirmed COVID-19 cases in total, including 50,333 in Wuhan. The death toll in China due to the virus remained at 4,633 China as no new fatalities were reported Thursday.
China country has so far recorded 82,886 confirmed cases the NHC said. It added that 219 people are still undergoing treatment in hospitals.
PTI