In a major victory against the Covid-19 pandemic, China has reported no new cases of infection for the first time in the country’s Wuhan Province, the epicenter of the outbreak. It has come as a huge relief for the Chinese government even as nations across the world have ramped up measures in a desperate effort to contain the pandemic.This shows China’s exemplary national determination and organizational capability to combat the pandemic in a record time. According to the National Health Commission, there were no new cases in Wuhan, where the virus first emerged in December, on March 19. Wuhan has been placed under strict quarantine since January, and the rest of China also enacted tough measures to limit the spread.
A total of 3,245 people have died from the disease so far, according to the commission. There have been nearly 81,000 infections but only 7,263 people remain sick with the disease. The global number has shot past 200,000, with more than 8,700 deaths.On March 10, President Xi Jinping visited Wuhan for the first time since the outbreak began and declared that the spread of the disease was “basically curbed”. On the same day, Hubei allowed people to travel within the province for the first time since January, excluding Wuhan.
Although life has slowly started to return to normal, there is a growing concern about a second wave of infections due to an influx of cases from abroad. The National Health Commission said there were 34 more cases brought in from abroad. “We should never allow the hard-won and continuous positive trend to be reversed,” President Xi said at a meeting of the Communist Party of China (CPC) on March 18.
Mainland China has reported 80,881 confirmed cases, including 8,976 patients who are being treated and 68,679 patients who were discharged after recovery as of March 17. The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) has reported 157 confirmed cases and four deaths till March 17, while Macao SAR reported 11 confirmed cases. In Taiwan, there were 67 confirmed cases and one death so far.
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