No new infections with the corona virus were detected on Wednesday in the Chinese city of Wuhan. It is the first time since the December outbreak that no one has tested positive in the epicenter of the virus outbreak.
At the height of the outbreak, in the first two weeks of February, there were still more than 1,500 daily. In recent weeks, the number of infections in Wuhan has steadily declined. Only one patient was registered in the Chinese city on Monday and Tuesday.
In Wuhan, as many as six people died on Wednesday from the effects of the COVID-19 virus.
Across China, no new cases of infection have been identified that have passed from person to person within the country.
China does, however, see an increase in the number of human infections abroad. On Wednesday, the virus was discovered in 34 people, 21 of whom were in the capital Beijing. Those persons have recently been to Italy or the United Kingdom.
At the beginning of December 2019, the first patient with a hitherto mysterious lung disease was discovered in Wuhan (although it now seems strongly that people must have been infected by November). More people soon fell ill. They had in common that they had been in a market where live animals were traded. In January 2020, the virus began to spread from Wuhan through China, and then around the world.
In Wuhan, a city of more than 11 million inhabitants, about 50,000 infections were eventually detected. In Hubei Province, of which Wuhan is the capital, a total of 3,130 people have died from the effects of the corona virus.
The state newspaper China Daily reports that the lockdown could become less severe if no new contamination cases are confirmed in Wuhan in the next two weeks. The city has been hermetically sealed since January 23.
About the author: Rick Culpepper
Rick Culpepper is of those journalists who dig the topic to the very bottom. He is often late with the delivery of the piece, but always does it perfectly. In his spare time, he collects data for one of the most high-profile investigations of corruption in the EU.
