BEIJING: China’s health authority said on Tuesday (May 12) that the reappearance of local clusters of COVID-19 cases in recent days suggests that counter-epidemic measures cannot be relaxed yet.

While prevention and control efforts have normalised, that does not mean measures can be eased, Mi Feng, spokesman at the National Health Commission, said at a media briefing.

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A new cluster reappeared over the weekend in the city of Wuhan, where the pandemic first emerged, while the northeastern city of Shulan was placed under lockdown Sunday after another outbreak emerged.

NO NEW DOMESTIC CASES

China reported no new domestic COVID-19 infections on Tuesday, after two consecutive days of double-digit increases fuelled fears of a second wave of infections.

China has largely brought the virus under control, but it remains on edge, fearful that a second wave could undermine its efforts to get the economy back up and running.

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On Monday, China’s National Health Commission reported 17 new cases, five of them in Wuhan. Seven of the new cases were imported.

A day earlier, China announced the first double-digit increase in nationwide cases in nearly 10 days, saying 14 new infections had been confirmed. Wuhan also saw its first new case in over a month.

For the 27th consecutive day, there were no deaths reported. One imported case was recorded.

The country’s official death toll remains at 4,633, while the total number of infections in the mainland is 82,919.

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