BEIJING, 6 March 2020:
Chinese health authorities today said China must not relax its vigilance or lower the level of work in epidemic prevention and control as the number of imported cases of novel coronavirus disease (Covid-19) increases, reported Xinhua news agency.
The Chinese mainland reported 17 new confirmed cases of Covid-19 on Thursday outside Hubei Province, the epicentre of the outbreak, said Mi Feng, an official with the National Health Commission (NHC), at a press conference.
Of them, 16 cases, including 11 in Gansu, four in Beijing and one in Shanghai, were imported from outside the mainland, said Mi. He did not disclose where these imported cases came from.
“We should continue to deepen international cooperation, share information and experience with the World Health Organisation and relevant countries in a timely manner, and jointly fight the epidemic.”
The mainland had seen a total of 36 imported Covid-19 cases by yesterday, according to the commission.
NHC said it received reports of 143 new confirmed cases of novel coronavirus infection and 30 deaths overall yesterday on the Chinese mainland.
Among the deaths, 29 were in Hubei Province and one in Hainan Province. Meanwhile, 102 new suspected cases were reported, said the commission.
Also yesterday, 1,681 people were discharged from hospital after recovery, while the number of severe cases decreased by 215 to 5,737.
The overall confirmed cases on the mainland had reached 80,552 by the end of yesterday – including 23,784 patients who were still being treated, 53,726 patients who had been discharged after recovery, and 3,042 people who had died of the disease.
The commission said that 482 people were still suspected of being infected with the virus.
The commission added 29,896 close contacts were still under medical observation. Yesterday, 5,457 people were discharged from medical observation.
By the end of yesterday, 104 confirmed cases including two deaths had been reported in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR), 10 confirmed cases in the Macao SAR, and 44 in Taiwan, including one death.
Also, 46 patients in Hong Kong, nine in Macao and 12 in Taiwan had been discharged from hospital after recovery.
– Bernama