BEIJING: Mainland China reported six new COVID-19 cases on Monday (Arp 27), up from three reported a day earlier, putting its total number of COVID-19 infections to date at 82,836.
The National Health Commission said in a statement on Tuesday the number of imported cases involving travellers from overseas rose to three on Monday from a day earlier.
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New asymptomatic cases, involving patients infected with the virus but not showing symptoms, rose to 40 on Monday from 25 the previous day.
The total number of deaths in the mainland from COVID-19 remained unchanged at 4,633.
On Monday, US President Donald Trump said China could have stopped the spread of COVID-19 and that the US is conducting "serious investigations" into the matter.
READ: Trump faults China for COVID-19 spread, says US investigating
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Last week, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the US "strongly believed" Beijing failed to report the outbreak in a timely manner and covered up how dangerous the respiratory illness caused by the virus was.
China's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said on Twitter on Monday Pompeo should "stop playing the political game. Better save energy on saving lives".
On Monday, the head of a top state research institute in China said the country will focus testing on high-risk groups, such as people from infected areas or those with symptoms.
The government said recently that it intends to carry out more widespread testing to quickly identify and isolate carriers, following spikes in cases linked to people arriving from abroad and new local transmissions.
But China has acknowledged that accuracy of tests must be improved and more laboratories should be set up as plans.
"(The country's) current testing strategy matches our epidemic control and prevention strategy," Jin Qi, president of the Institute of Pathogen Biology at the Chinese Academy of MedicalRead More – Source
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