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May 11 (UPI) -- Countries in Oceania moved to ease coronavirus restrictions on Monday as China's city of Wuhan announced a new cluster of infections, raising worries of a resurgence at ground zero of the pandemic. Chinese health officials on Monday announced 17 new cases of the coronavirus, five of which were recorded in Wuhan where the disease first emerged late last year before spreading the world over.
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Of the new infections, one is the wife of an 89-year-old man who was confirmed positive a day earlier and was the first confirmed infection in the city since April 3, China's state-run CNA News reported.
The lockdown was lifted days after Wuhan's last infection, and cars, trains and other forms of transportation were permitted to leave the city for the first time in nearly 80 days on April 8.
China, the former epicenter of the virus, on Monday also reported zero deaths -- a trend that began on April 15 when it reported its most recent death to the virus, according to data from China's National Health Commission.
Confirmation of the cluster comes a day after China's northeastern Jilin Province imposed martial law on Shulan city where 11 people contracted the virus from a laundrywoman, according to state-run Global Times.
Shulan raised its epidemic-response to its highest level, making it the only Chinese city to currently take such measures to fight the coronavirus.
The new cases lifted China's total to 82,918 infections and 4,633 deaths.
Globally, it sat in 11th place and third in Asian in number of infections, according to worldometers.info.
South Korea on Monday also reported a spike in cases connected to Seoul nightclubs, raising fears that it, too, may see a second wave of the virus.
Health authorities said as of noon Monday, a total of 63 people who visited clubs and bars in Seoul's Itaewon over the weekend contracted the virus as well as 23 of their family members and friends, Yonhap News reported.
The outbreak forced Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon on Saturday to indefinitely shutter the capital's bars and nightclubs.
On Monday, South Korea, which has received international praise for its response to the pandemic without instituting large-scale lockdowns, recorded 35 new cases of COVID-19, its largest single-day increase since early April, the Korea Center for Disease Control and Prevention said.
Pakistan, which sits sixth in Asia, on Monday confirmed nearly 1,500 new cases of the virus in the previous 24 hours. Though a drop from a record 1,991 cases recorded the day before, it is continuing a trend of registering quadruple-digit cases that began May 1, according to Pakistani government data.
Russia recorded its second-highest daily total of 11,656 new cases on Monday for its eighth consecutive day recording more than 10,000 new infections.
The new infections forced Russia to pass Britain for third in number of cases for a total of 221,344, trailing only Spain and the United States.
It also reported 94 new deaths for more than 2,000 fatalities to the virus.
In Oceania on Monday, both New Zealand and Australia moved to ease restrictions after persistent declines in infections.
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced more than six weeks after going into lockdown that they would be downgrading from Level 3 to Level 2 on Thursday, allowing retail stores, malls, cafes restaurants and other public spaces to reopen.
"You can begin to move around New Zealand, but space yourself out especially if you're using public transport," she said, crediting the country's 5 million residents for creating "a wall that meant the virus couldn't reach those that it could easily take."
On May 18, students will return to classes and next Thursday bars will be able to reopen, she said.
"We have left bars till last because they do pose the most risk, as we can see from South Korea that recently opened up their bars, only to close them again after one person created an outbreak," she said.
In Australia, some states announced easing to restrictions days after Prime Minister Scott Morrison said they could proceed with lifting lockdowns at their discretion.
New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian announced that from Friday gatherings of 10 people will be allowed, meaning cafes and restaurants will be permitted to seat up to 10 customers at a time.
In Victoria, Premier Daniel Andrews said from Wednesday, people will be able to gather in groups up to five visitors in homes and up to 10 people outdoors. Weddings will be allowed up to 10 guests, he said, adding that a maximum of 20 people will be able to attend indoor funerals and up to 30 for outdoor.
Of Oceania's more than 8,500 infections, Australia accounted for nearly 7,000 while New Zealand recorded all but 108 of the remaining patients. The region has recorded 118 deaths to the disease -- 97 in Australia and 21 in New Zealand.
Globally, there were more than 4 million cases and nearly 283,000 deaths to the virus.
