China reports no new local coronavirus cases for second day

BEIJING: China on Friday reported no new local cases of the deadly coronavirus for the second day since the pandemic began, marking a major turning point in the global battle to contain coronavirus.

The country’s drop in cases tenders a ray of hope for the rest of the world as a slew of other nations goes into lockdown in an attempt to follow China’s approach against the pandemic.

The number of deaths in China has also dawdling significantly, with the National Health Commission registered only three new fatalities, the lowest daily increase since it started publishing figures in January.

The crisis has moved from Asia to Europe, China’s death toll, now at 3,248, was overtaken on Thursday by Italy, where more than 3,400 people have now died due to the diseases.

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There have been almost 81,000 infection cases of diseases in China, however, less than 7,000 people remain sick with COVID-19 infections.

Some 56 million people in Hubei province Wuhan and surrounding were locked down in late January, however, officials are increasingly easing the travel limited as cases have dwindled.

China is now concerned about the second wave of infections coming from abroad, prompting numerous regions including Beijing to force international arrivals to go into 14-day quarantine.

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