China yesterday recorded no new confirmed COVID-19 cases on the mainland for May 22, the first time since the pandemic began in Wuhan.

The National Health Commission (NHC) said in a statement there were two new suspected cases: an imported one in Shanghai and locally transmitted case in the northeastern province of Jilin but none were confirmed.

Reuters reported that China has seen a sharp fall in locally transmitted cases since March as major restrictions on people movement helped it to take control of the epidemic in many parts of the country.

However, it has continued to see an influx of imported cases, mainly involving Chinese nationals returning from abroad, while new clusters of infections in the northeastern border provinces of Jilin and Heilongjiang have emerged in recent weeks.

Wuhan also reported this month its first cluster of infections since a lockdown on the city ended on April 8, prompting authorities to warn that counter-epidemic measures could not be relaxed and to launch a campaign to test all of Wuhan’s 11 million residents for COVID-19.

The number of confirmed cases in the mainland stood at 82,971 and the death toll remained unchanged at 4,634.

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