Mainland China reported a second consecutive day of no new local coronavirus infections as the epicenter of the epidemic Hubei province opened its borders, but imported cases rose as Beijing ramped up controls to prevent a resurgence of infections.
A total of 67 new cases were reported as of end-Wednesday, up from 47 a day earlier, all of which were imported, China’s National Health Commission said in a statement on Thursday.
The total number of cases now stands at 81,285.
The commission reported a total of 3,287 deaths at the end of Wednesday, up six from the previous day.
[ Sign up for our Health IQ newsletter for the latest coronavirus updates ]
All of the new patients were travellers who came to China from overseas, with the mainland reporting no locally transmitted infections on Wednesday.
Story continues below advertisement
Shanghai reported the most cases with 18 followed by Inner Mongolia region at 12 and Guangdong province at 11.
1:56Coronavirus outbreak: Great Wall of China re-opens after COVID-19 shutdown
Coronavirus outbreak: Great Wall of China re-opens after COVID-19 shutdown
The number of new daily cases remain down sharply from the height of the outbreak in the country in February, allowing Beijing to push for restarting economic activity in the world’s second biggest economy.
 » READ MORE FROM GLOBAL NEWS
