China witnesses rise in COVID-19 cases as new cluster emerges in Wuhan

Wuhan reported its first cluster of coronavirus cases on May 11 since the lockdown was lifted from the epicentre of the virus outbreak in China, raising concerns over a new wave of infections. The city recorded five new confirmed cases of coronavirus and all of them reportedly belong to the same residential compound.

Wuhan’s health authority said in a statement that the task of epidemic prevention and control in the city is still very heavy, warning about the risk of a rebound. All the new confirmed cases were earlier classified as asymptomatic which were not included on the overall tally of confirmed coronavirus cases. 

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Rise in asymptomatic cases

China has reported 82,918 coronavirus cases of which only 141 are active but the rising number of asymptomatic cases can create a problem for the authorities who are planning to further ease restrictions to return to normalcy. A top Chinese health expert had said that the government will focus on testing people from high-risk group and areas. 

According to the latest report, nearly 4.2 million coronavirus cases have been confirmed worldwide with over 283,000 deaths, overwhelming health care facilities across the globe. The United States, the United Kingdom, Italy, and Spain, are the worst-hit countries due to the pandemic with around 60 per cent of death toll reported from these four countries alone. 

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While China has been able to flatten the curve to contain highly infectious disease through isolation and contact tracing, the virus has spiralled out in the United States. It has reported over 1.3 million cases, almost one-third of the worldwide cases, and more than 80,000 deaths due to the infectious disease. Within the United States, New York has reported over one-fourth of the nationwide coronavirus cases and almost one-tenth of the worldwide cases.

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(Image Credit: AP)