Aidoghie Paulinus, Abuja
The Chinese Government has said for the first time, new cases of the coronavirus infections outside Wuhan, the epicentre of the virus, have dropped below 100.
In the February 18, 2020 edition of the ‘Newsletter on Fighting 2019-nCoV’ made available to our correspondent in Abuja, the Chinese Government disclosed that the number of new confirmed cases has dropped for 14 consecutive days.
“On 17 February, for the first time, the number of daily new confirmed cases outside Hubei went below 100.
“As of 24:00 on Feb 17, the National Health Commission had received 72,436 reports of confirmed cases on the Chinese mainland, including 1,868 deaths and 12,552 patients cured and discharged from hospital. There still remained 6,242 suspected cases.
“So far, 141,552 are now under medical observation, who have been identified as having had close contact with infected patients.
“The number of confirmed infections in China’s Hong Kong (60, incl. 1 death, 2 cured) and Macao (10, incl. 5 cured) special administrative regions and Taiwan province (22 incl. 1 death, 2 cured) had risen to 92 in total, according to the commission,” the Chinese Government said.
Meanwhile, Chinese President Xi Jinping, has said China’s battle against the 2019 novel coronavirus is making visible progress.
In a phone conversation with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Tuesday, President Xi said China’s measures to prevent and control the COVID-19 epidemic were achieving visible progress as the battle had reached a crucial time.