China did not include asymptomatic individuals who tested positive for coronavirus in their counts as the number of confirmed cases and deaths from the disease grew worldwide, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal.

A Chinese public health official told the Journal on Tuesday that the country will start reporting asymptomatic carriers starting Wednesday “in order to respond to society’s concern in a timely manner.”

Chang Jile said there are 1,541 asymptomatic carriers of the coronavirus in China; of that group, 205 people recently returned from overseas.

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From now on, all asymptomatic carriers will be forced into a 14-day quarantine, the official added.

China’s reported numbers, which steeply declined from being the epicenter of the pandemic to the fourth-highest in terms of total confirmed cases, have been met with skepticism.

Sen. Marco Rubio Marco Antonio RubioOvernight Defense: Pentagon redirects pandemic funding to defense contractors | US planning for full Afghanistan withdrawal by May | Anti-Trump GOP group puts ads in military papers Democrats step up hardball tactics as Supreme Court fight heats up Press: Notorious RBG vs Notorious GOP MORE (R-Fla.), for example, tweeted Friday that cases of COVID-19 in China are "significantly more than [what] they admit to."

Some in our media can’t contain their glee & delight in reporting that the U.S. has more #CoronaVirus cases than #China



Beyond being grotesque,its bad journalism



We have NO IDEA how many cases China really has but without any doubt its significantly more than why they admit to — Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) March 29, 2020

China currently has more than 80,000 confirmed cases of the virus, compared to 164,000 in the U.S., according to a Johns Hopkins University database.