China on Thursday reported a sharp increase in the cases of Coronavirus (COVID-19) infection just a day after announcing a significant decline in the number of new infections. New confirmed infections rose to 1,109 by the end of Thursday, as compared to 394 reported the day before. The toll has risen to 2,236, with 118 new deaths as of Thursday.

The sudden spike was mostly due to the spread of the new Coronavirus in prisons across the country, where over 500 cases have been detected, authorities said on Friday. Hubei said on Friday that 271 cases were reported by its prisons on Thursday, including 220 that had previously not been known to provincial authorities. Most of those cases were at the Wuhan Women's Prison in Hubei's capital, He Ping, director for prison administration at the Ministry of Justice, told reporters. The warden of Wuhan women's prison had been removed for failing to prevent the outbreak.