China on Thursday reported 35 new cases of symptomatic coronavirus infection for the mainland, all in people arriving at its border after contracting the virus.
Separately, the National Health Commission logged 55 new cases of patients who tested positive without showing any symptoms, sharply down from 130 such cases reported the day before.
In total, there were 1,075 asymptomatic patients still under medical observation at the end of Wednesday.
China began publishing asymptomatic cases in its daily coronavirus update on Wednesday, in response to growing public concern that “silent” carriers may cause another outbreak as more people return to work after lockdowns are relaxed.
The tally of confirmed symptomatic cases for mainland China now stands at 81,589 including 841 infections found in travelers from abroad.
The commission also reported six more deaths, all in hardest-hit Hubei Province, taking the total number of fatalities on the mainland to 3,318.
President Xi Jinping declared imported cases the top priority in the country’s COVID-19 response on Wednesday, saying the risk posed by such cases has sharply risen as the pandemic accelerates.
Although imported cases only account for 1 percent of overall infections in China with the vast majority of them found in Chinese citizens, the government banned the entry of most foreigners last week.
