On Wednesday, China reported only one new domestic coronavirus case but a dozen more imported infections.
There was just one more fresh outbreak in Wuhan for the second consecutive day, the central town where the virus first appeared late last year, the National Health Commission said.
New cases have now been in the single digits in the neighboring Hubei province for the past seven days, down from a high of several thousand a day in early February.
On January 23rd, Wuhan and his 11 million residents were put under strict quarantine, with the rest of Hubei entering lockdown the following days.
But in recent days, restrictions have been relaxing in some parts of the province, with China claiming that it has “basically curbed” the virus spread.
A number of smaller cities are now letting healthier people to leave the province to return to work elsewhere, or to their hometowns.
Imported cases, however, are a rising concern for China, with 12 more registered on Wednesday, taking the total to 155 and fueling an influx of fears.
According to the government, an average of 20,000 people travel into China every day, and 10 Chinese provinces and cities place mandatory quarantines on those entering from outside the country.
Beijing is making all international arrivals go into a 14-day quarantine at specified hotels in the capital.
Five of the new imported cases recorded Wednesday were in southern Guangdong — the most populous province in China, which on Monday declared quarantines. Beijing and Shanghai each had three, and elsewhere had one.
China also announced 11 deaths Wednesday, raising its virus toll to 3,237 and total nation-wide infections to 80,894.
