China, COVID-19 Asymptomatic Infections Still Spreading... "Hubei Province Outbreak"

[Asia Economy Beijing=Special Correspondent Park Sun-mi] While China confidently adjusted the risk level of all regions to 'low risk' for COVID-19 control, concerns are growing as new asymptomatic infections continue to occur in Hubei Province, where the spread of COVID-19 was most severe.

On the 8th, the National Health Commission of China announced that as of midnight, there was 1 new confirmed COVID-19 case. It was reported that the patient was infected in Jilin Province, not an overseas imported case. The number of additional suspected cases is 3.

However, 16 new asymptomatic infections, which are not included in the confirmed COVID-19 case statistics, were added in one day, bringing the total number of asymptomatic infections currently under medical observation to 854. Asymptomatic infections refer to people who test positive for COVID-19 but do not show specific symptoms such as fever, cough, or sore throat.

It is particularly noteworthy that asymptomatic infections continue to emerge in Hubei Province, where the highest number of confirmed COVID-19 cases occurred.

The Hubei Provincial Health Commission announced that 16 new asymptomatic infections were added within the region on this day. This means that all 16 newly added asymptomatic infections across China came from Hubei Province.

An anonymous diplomatic source explained, "As asymptomatic infections continue to appear in Hubei Province, this suggests that Hubei may not yet be a COVID-19 safe zone. Since there was significant population movement during the May 1-5 Labor Day holiday, this situation is concerning."

Despite this situation, China adjusted all mainland regions to the COVID-19 'low risk' level starting from the previous day.

Mi Feng, spokesperson for the National Health Commission, stated that all regions in China have been adjusted to low risk, but emphasized, "Since there is still great uncertainty in the COVID-19 situation, it is necessary to implement normalized epidemic prevention measures and strictly prevent the situation from worsening again."

Meanwhile, the cumulative number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in China so far is 82,886. Among them, 4,633 have died, and 77,993 have recovered and been discharged. Currently, 260 patients are confirmed and receiving COVID-19 treatment. The cumulative confirmed cases in the Greater China region outside the mainland are 1,529 in total, including Hong Kong (1,044), Macau (45), and Taiwan (440).

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.