China starts to report asymptomatic coronavirus cases
People wearing face masks line up to enter a supermarket in Wuhan, Hubei province, the epicentre of China's coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, April 1, 2020. REUTERS/Aly Song
HONG KONG, April 1 (Reuters - Sports bodies in China have been banned from organising events that will draw large crowds until further notice due to the coronavirus outbreak, the country's National Sports Bureau said in a directive issued on Tuesday.
In a letter sent to sporting bodies across China, the bureau said mass participation events were not to proceed as the country aimed to avoid a second wave of infections being brought in from overseas.
Nearly 800,000 people have been infected across the world and more than 38,800 have died from the virus, according to a Reuters tally.
"In order to fulfil our duty to stop the virus being imported at the border and prevent the rebound in domestic infections, and to reduce unnecessary people flow and its consequent threat to virus prevention, from now until further notice major sporting events which gather crowds, such as marathons, will not resume," the statement said.
"In the meantime, please continue to direct the public to maintain a healthy lifestyle and organise online sporting activities. The National Sports Bureau will update according to the developing virus situation."
Numerous events have been cancelled or postponed in China since the coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan in January.
The World Indoor Athletic Championships, which were due to be held in Nanjing in March, have been postponed until next year while national leagues, such as the country's football and basketball competitions, have yet to commence their season or are currently suspended.
China starts to report asymptomatic coronavirus cases
BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese health authorities began on Wednesday reporting on asymptomatic cases of the coronavirus as part of an effort to allay public fears that people could be spreading the virus without knowing they are infected with it.
China, where the coronavirus emerged late last year, has managed to bring its outbreak under control and is easing travel restrictions in virus hot spots.
But there are concerns that the end of lockdowns will see thousands of infectious people move back into daily life without knowing they carry the virus, because they have no symptoms and so have not been tested.
Up to now, the number of known asymptomatic cases has been classified, and it is not included in the official data, though the South China Morning Post newspaper, citing unpublished official documents, recently said it was more than 40,000.
In an effort to dispel public fears about hidden cases of the virus, the government has this week ordered health authorities to turn their attention to finding asymptomatic cases and releasing their data on them.
Health authorities in Liaoning province were the fist to do so on Wednesday, saying the province had 52 cases of people with the coronavirus who showed no symptoms as of March 31, they said in a statement on a provincial government website.
Hunan province said it had four such cases, all of them imported from abroad, it said in a statement on its website.
The National Health Commission is due to start reporting aggregate, national data on asymptomatic cases later on Wednesday.
There is debate among experts about how infectious asymptomatic cases are but the commission has said all cases would be centrally quarantined for 14 days.It said 1,541 people with asymptomatic coronavirus infections were under observation as of the end of Monday.
China has had more than 81,000 cases of the coronavirus and 3,305 deaths.
