Earlier in the day, Mi Feng, a spokesman for the National Health Commission, announced that on Saturday, a local cluster of 11 infected people had been discovered in Jilin with all of the infected being family members or had come into close contact with them.

"On May 7, one local infection was detected. On May 9, another 11 were detected. Per the national standards of evaluating an epidemiological situation, the Jilin province raises the Shulan city's level of epidemiological threat from average to high," the authorities said in a statement.

Meanwhile, another new case was reported earlier in the day from the city of Wuhan that had not had any new cases since early April. This makes the total of 12 new cases the highest daily increase since March 11.