Uptick in local COVID-19 infections as imported cases still rising

The Chinese mainland experienced an uptick in locally transmitted COVID-19 infections as imported cases continued to see a double-digit daily growth, the latest data from the National Health Commission shows.

Over the course of Thursday, the Chinese mainland recorded 42 further infections and all but four of them were imported. To date, the caseload of the disease caused by the novel coronavirus has reached 81,907, the commission said.

The only death counted on the day occurred in the Hubei provincial capital of Wuhan, the most lethal hot spot in China, bringing the total fatalities on the Chinese mainland to 3,336.

There are now 53 suspected cases on Chinese mainland. The latest daily increase of three such cases are all imported ones, it added.

It said, with a surge of 47 asymptomatic cases, including 14 imported ones, in the 24 hours ending Thursday midnight, 1,097 people harboring the virus but showing no symptoms are still under medical observation and 349 are from abroad.

Over half of the patients being hospitalized are imported infections, according to the commission.

Among the 1,116 patients under treatment, 733 are from abroad. In spite of a daily drop of 32 in the number of patients exhibiting serious symptoms, 144 people are still under intensive care and 34 of them are imported cases, according to the commission.

With another 85 people discharged from hospitals after recovery in the 24 hours ending Thursday at midnight, the total number of people released from hospital treatment now stands at 77,455.

Among the 717,378 people traced by the health authorities as close contacts with the infected, 11,176 people are still under medical observation, it said.

Hubei province, the hardest-hit region in China, has reported no further confirmed and suspected cases over the course of Thursday.

But most of the patients showing serious symptoms on the Chinese mainland are from the province. Among the 351 patients that are still hospitalized in the province, 103 need intensive care, the commission said.

By the end of Thursday, 1,398 confirmed cases, including nine deaths, had been reported in the Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions and Taiwan province. To date, a total of 383 patients have been discharged from hospitals in these regions.