China reports having 1,541 asymptomatic coronavirus cases as of March 30. The country will begin reporting this figure starting April 1, says the National Health Commission. @business
The exclusion from official data of people infected but without symptoms has come up repeatedly since the coronavirus emerged in Wuhan. Authorities there and elsewhere are still finding such cases, even as the growth in confirmed new cases has slowed rapidly.
That’s raised the question of whether the outbreak is truly under control. South Korea, Japan and Singapore are among countries which count all positive tests in their official tallies of cases, regardless of whether the people have symptoms such as a fever or a cough.
In the past few days, both Gansu and Guangdong provinces have reported new symptom-free cases from people who left the city of Xianning in Hubei province after a quarantine was lifted. The news sparked concerns about the unknown scale of asymptomatic cases across the country.
“Once asymptomatic cases are discovered, it’s required to immediately implement strictly centralized isolation and medical management, release information openly and transparently, resolutely prevent late reporting and omissions,
identify the source as soon as possible, and quarantine close contacts for medical observation,” according to the statement.
