The increasing number of cases of coronavirus infected that enter China from other countries increases the risk of the country experiencing a second wave of infection, a spokesman for the country’s health authority said on Sunday.

“China has already accumulated a total of 693 cases of infected from abroad, which means that the possibility of a new wave of infections remains relatively high”, said the National Health Commission.

China reported 45 new cases of coronavirus on Saturday, with all but one patient diagnosed after entering the country from abroad. The total number of infected in the country so far amounts to 81,439 cases, of which 3,300 are fatal.

The leader in terms of the number of COVID-19 infected people in the world is the United States, which in just four days managed to overtake China and Italy, after growing from 68,000 cases on March 25, their number increased to 123,500 cases of infection. Italy is the hardest hit, however, reporting already over 10,000 deaths.