Increases in COVID-19 infections in China with an increase in imported cases

The deaths by COVID-19 in China increased in the last 24 hours by 30 people - one death less than in the previous day count - and the new confirmed cases added 143 by the 139 counted the previous day, the National Commission reported today of health.

According to the latest official data, those killed in China total 3,042 and the number of infected so far reaches 80,552 people.

All the deaths except one - counted in the island province of Hainan - were recorded in the province of Hubei, the focus of the epidemic, which accounted for 126 cases of the 143 new ones: up to 17 new infected were detected in the rest of China when in the the day before they had only added five.

In fact, in the last 24 hours 16 confirmed cases "imported" were detected from outside the country, in Gansu province (11), in the capital of Beijing (4) and in the city of Shanghai (1).

To date, 36 confirmed "imported" cases have been detected from outside the country, according to the commission.

On the other hand, the figures point to a new dance of figures in Hubei, since there are 126 new cases counted today by 134 on Thursday, 115 on Wednesday, 114 on Tuesday and 196 on Monday.

In total, in Hubei there are 2,931 deaths and 67,592 cases confirmed so far.

Of the last 29 deaths in Hubei, 23 occurred in its capital, Wuhan, which has been in quarantine since January 23.

The National Health Commission reported today that in the same 24-hour period 1,681 people were discharged after overcoming the disease by 2,189 the previous day.

According to official data, 53,726 patients have been discharged since the epidemic began, and more than 670,854 people who have been in close contact with those infected have been followed up, of which 29,896 remain under observation.

However, there are 102 new cases classified as suspects for having been in close contact with those infected, the health agency said, adding 482 in total.

One of the priorities of the Chinese Government is now to "protect against the importation" of infections from other countries after the cases of COVID-19 detected in other parts of the world.

The symptoms of the new coronavirus are in many cases similar to those of a cold, but may be accompanied by fever and fatigue, dry cough and dyspnea (shortness of breath).