Wuhan reports first COVID cluster
Since lockdown lifted
BEIJING (Reuters) — Wuhan reported its first cluster of coronavirus infections since a lockdown on the city, the epicenter of the outbreak in China, was lifted a month ago, stoking concerns of a wider resurgence.
The five new confirmed cases, all from the same residential compound, come amid efforts to ease restrictions across China as businesses restart and individuals get back to work.
Wuhan officials said they will conduct coronavirus tests on the Chinese city’s entire population, state media reported yesterday. Officials had been ordered to submit by noon on Tuesday plans to administer nucleic acid tests on all residents in the city of 11 million people, according to an official notice carried by news outlets.
Six new cases were reported on Sunday and Monday from a residential compound in Dongxihu District. But an official from the Dongxihu District epidemic prevention and control commanding office told AFP that they have “not yet received news about this notice.”
Beijing said on Friday that cinemas, museums and other venues would gradually be reopened, though restrictions including mandatory reservations and a limit on numbers of visitors would be in place.
All of the latest cases in Wuhan were previously classified as asymptomatic, people who test positive for the virus and are capable of infecting others but do not show clinical signs.
Meanwhile, China’s northeastern province of Jilin, which on Saturday reported a cluster of infections in Shulan, reported three additional cases. Shulan has been marked a high-risk area, the only place in China now with that designation.
“We’re now in a ‘war-time’ mode,” said Jin Hua, the mayor of Shulan, which until the weekend had reported no local cases for more than 70 days.
Shulan has imposed a lockdown on its 600,000 residents since the weekend, with just one member of a household being allowed out each day to buy necessities.
One of the three cases confirmed in Jilin province on May 10 was from Shulan. The other two were uncovered through contact tracing of people who were in contact with earlier Shulan cases.
Nearby Liaoning and Heilongjiang provinces each reported one case, fuelling worries of a regional resurgence.
A 70-year-old in Heilongjiang’s capital Harbin had tested negative seven times before results showed as positive.