Shanghai/Beijing - China reported 45 new
coronavirus cases in the mainland for Saturday, down from 54 on
the previous day, with all but one involving travellers from
overseas, the country's health authority said on Sunday.
In the last seven days, China has reported 313 imported
cases of coronavirus but only 6 confirmed cases of domestic
transmission, data from the National Health Commission showed.
Most of those imported cases have involved Chinese returning
home from abroad. Airlines have been ordered to sharply cut
international flights from Sunday. And restrictions on
foreigners entering the country went into effect on Saturday.
Five more people died on Saturday, all of them in Wuhan, the
industrial central city where the epidemic began in December.
But Wuhan, the capital of Hubei province, has reported only one
new case in the last 10 days.
A total of 3,300 people have now died in mainland China,
with a reported 81,439 infections.
Saturday marked the fourth consecutive day that Hubei
province recorded no new confirmed cases. The sole case of
domestically transmitted coronavirus was recorded in Henan
province, bordering Hubei.
With traffic restrictions in the province lifted, Wuhan is
also gradually reopening borders and restarting some local
transportation services.
All airports in Hubei resumed some domestic flights on
Sunday, with the exception of Wuhan's Tianhe airport, which will
open to domestic flights on April 8. Flights from Hubei to
Beijing remain suspended.
A train arrived in Wuhan on Saturday for the first time since
the city was placed in lockdown two months ago. Greeting the
train, Hubei Communist Party Secretary Ying Yong described Wuhan
as "a city full of hope" and said the heroism and hard work of
its people had "basically cut off transmission" of the virus.
Concerns have been raised that a large number of undiagnosed
asymptomatic patients could return to circulation once transport
restrictions are eased.
China's top medical adviser, Zhong Nanshan, played down that
risk in comments to state broadcaster CCTV on Sunday. Zhong said
asymptomatic patients were usually found by tracing the contacts
of confirmed cases, which had so far shown no sign of
rebounding.
With the world's second-biggest economy expected to shrink
for the first time in four decades this quarter, China is set to
unleash hundreds of billions of dollars in stimulus.
The ruling Communist Party's Politburo called on Friday for
a bigger budget deficit, the issuance of more local and national
bonds, and steps to guide interest rates lower, delay loan
repayments, reduce supply-chain bottlenecks and boost
consumption.
Reuters
* For the latest on the Covid-19 outbreak visit IOL's #Coronavirus trend page.
** If you think you have been exposed to the Covid-19 virus, please call the 24-hour hotline on 0800 029 999