China records 5 new COVID-19 cases, including 4 asymptomatic cases

China recorded five new coronavirus cases on Tuesday, down from six a day earlier, the National Health Commission reported on Wednesday.

Four of the new cases were local transmissions and asymptomatic cases in Jilin Province and one was an imported case involving a traveller from overseas, the commission said in a statement, compared with three imported cases reported the previous day.

Asymptomatic cases pose a problem as the patients are tested COVID-19 positive but develop no symptoms such as fever, cough or sore throat. However, they pose a risk of spreading the disease to others.

Jilin city is under lockdown after clusters of infections were reported last week.

By Tuesday, Jilin province had reported a total of 133 confirmed locally transmitted cases, including two deaths and 106 who had been discharged from hospital after recovery.

There are still 25 patients receiving treatment in hospital, with three in severe condition, all in the city of Jilin, and 1,181 people in close contact with the locally transmitted cases under medical observation, the local health commission said.

The total number of Covid-19 infections in China to date now stands at 82,965, while the death toll remains unchanged at 4,634.