March 22 (AP)

Source: Global Times

Wuhan, the capital city of Central China’s Hubei Province, which has not seen new confirmed cases of COVID19 for four consecutive days, dismissed rumors on early Sunday that the city had newly confirmed cases.

The figure is objective and true, the Wuhan government said on Thursday, in response to some online articles alleging that over 100 new cases in the city have been found.

All medical institutions and disease prevention and control departments at all levels have reported directly via the internet in accordance with laws and regulations, the Wuhan government said.

On March 19, Wuhan reported no new confirmed cases for the first time since the outbreak. The city has not seen new confirmed cases of COVID19 for four consecutive days as of Sunday.

In an online article titled “My most memorable day,” the writer alleged that some communities in Wuhan had found confirmed cases and that Tongji hospital had confirmed more than 100 cases of COVID19.

The Wuhan government responded to the cases mentioned in the article one by one.

On March 20, the article said that the Meigui Xiyuan residential community in Wuhan’s Hanyang district announced, “There are two new confirmed patients in Unit 116, and this unit will be closed.”

After investigation, one patient was diagnosed on March 6 and is currently hospitalized and the other tested positive on March 11 and is now recovering at a quarantine station. Neither was a newly confirmed case, the Wuhan government said.

The Wuhan government also said that the allegation saying the Hanjiatun community had new cases on March 20 is wrong. A resident surnamed Zhang from the community was asymptomatic, which means he could not be categorized as a confirmed case based on the standard issued by the National Health Commission.

Tongji hospital, including two other branches in Wuhan, did not find new confirmed cases, the Wuhan government said, refuting rumors that the hospital was receiving new patients.

Regarding the case of a woman surnamed Liu from Fangyingtai community, the Wuhan government said Liu is now hospitalized in the Hubei Provincial People’s Hospital and tested negative for COVID19.

The article also wrongly said hospitals in Wuhan have been unwilling to accept patients, or are not willing to accept patients from other districts in the city, resulting in patients not being able to be admitted to the hospital for testing.