Wuhan reports first symptomatic coronavirus case in month

The city of Wuhan, China, where the novel coronavirus is believed to have originated, on Sunday reported its first symptomatic COVID-19 case in more than a month.

Officials said the newly confirmed coronavirus patient was previously asymptomatic, but developed symptoms. The case is the first symptomatic case in the city since April 3, Reuters reported.  

The patient, an 89-year-old man, has reportedly not left his compound since the Lunar New Year in late January. His wife also tested positive, but she is not displaying symptoms and therefore is not included in China’s official count.

The patient’s compound has had 20 confirmed cases, prompting experts to say his contraction was mainly due to previous community infections. Medical officials have since tested residents in the compound and found five asymptomatic infections, according to Reuters.

The compound’s infections demonstrate how new small outbreaks can occur as asymptomatic patients do not show symptoms, the news service noted. 

The newly announced infection comes at a time when northeast China may be experiencing an uptick in cases, and one province has been reclassified as high-risk.

The National Health Commission reported 20 new asymptomatic cases on Saturday, the highest since May 1 and an increase from five reported on Friday. The commission says it recorded 14 new symptomatic cases in the country.

China has documented 82,901 confirmed coronavirus cases as of Saturday and 4,633, deaths, health officials said, according to Reuters.

But experts and officials outside of China have questioned whether the country is reporting accurate statistics on cases and deaths and have speculated whether China downplayed the virus when it originally surfaced in December.