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Mainland China on Thursday reported that there is no new locally-transmitted coronavirus (COVID-19) cases for the first time since the deadly outbreak began late last year. This develop is a huge turning point in the global battle to contain the virus.
Even in Hubei Province, China including the city of Wuhan where the disease was discovered, there were no new cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours according to a report from the local health department’s website Wednesday.
In January, Chinese authorities implemented unexpected measures in an effort to prevent the further spread of the virus. This included suspending all travel in and out of all cities in Hubei province and preventing the province’s 59 million people from leaving home.
The huge turning point also represents a turnaround for the Chinese government. In February, mainland China was reporting thousands of cases per day, which made it as one of the most high-risk infection areas in the world.
Therefore, this report of zero cases is the strongest indication yet that such extreme measures can help contain the virus, as cases soar globally to more than 217,000.
However, China’s National Health Commission reported later that there were a total of 34 new infections in the country Wednesday, mostly in Beijing (21 cases) but all of the new cases were obtained overseas.
China reported eight new deaths yesterday, according to the National Health Commission.
The country now has a total of 80,928 cases and 3,245 deaths.
Health officials are still trying to trace the source of the outbreak of the new strain of the coronavirus. But the first known case to have been reported appeared in Wuhan on Dec. 1, 2019, according to a study published in the peer-reviewed medical journal The Lancet last month.
This is a developing story. Kindly check back on this page for updates.
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