China on Tuesday reported 48 new cases of coronavirus (COVID-19) and five more deaths, in the latest figures released by the National Health Commission.
According to the commission, all the new cases were imported cases, detected in people who had recently travelled outside the country.
Earlier, new infections had been almost exclusively imported, prompting official sources to say the domestic spread had been brought under control.
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According to the health commission, since its outbreak in December 2019, 3,305 people in China have died due to the virus which infected 81,518 people,
More than 76,000 have recovered so far.
Meanwhile, the mood in China’s industry had brightened after a record slump due to the coronavirus.
The Beijing Bureau of Statistics announced on Tuesday that the official Purchasing Managers Index (PMI), of the manufacturing sector jumped from 35.7 to 52 points in March.
Values above 50 points indicate a positive mood in the economy, while below that a downturn is expected.
The strict measures to halt the disease’s spread had practically brought the Chinese economy to a standstill and unprecedented lows were recorded in January and February.
However, factories and companies were slowly resuming operations.
The statistical office said further that more than half of companies surveyed had started work again and resumed production.
(dpa/NAN)
