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Coronavirus pandemic

China detects over 6,700 asymptomatic cases of COVID-19

Asymptomatic COVID-19 patients may still be contagious and need to be isolated and put under medical supervision

© AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein

BEIJING, April 15. /TASS/. Chinese doctors have detected over 6,700 asymptomatic cases of the novel coronavirus as of April 14, China’s National Health Commission Spokesperson Mi Feng said during a briefing on Wednesday.

"As for the asymptomatic cases, as of April 14, we have documented 6,764 such cases, including 588 imported ones," he said. "1,297 of them later became confirmed cases of the disease, including 251 imported ones. 4,444 asymptomatic patients have recovered and have been discharged from hospitals, including 109 people arriving from abroad," the spokesman added.

He noted that currently, 1,023 asymptomatic COVID-19 patients remain under medical supervision, including 228 people who have recently arrived from abroad. Earlier, Chinese officials informed that asymptomatic COVID-19 patients may still be contagious. Such people need to be isolated and put under medical supervision.

In late December 2019, Chinese officials notified the World Health Organization (WHO) about the outbreak of a previously unknown pneumonia in the city of Wuhan, in central China. Since then, cases of the novel coronavirus - named COVID-19 by the WHO - have been reported in every corner of the globe, including Russia.

On March 11, 2020, the WHO declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic. According to the latest statistics, over 2,000,000 people have been infected worldwide and more than 126,800 deaths have been reported. In addition, so far, over 485,000 individuals have recovered from the illness across the globe.

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