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HEALTH-VIRUS-CHINA-TOLL
China closes makeshift hospitals as virus cases plunge
BEIJING, March 9, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – China has closed most of the makeshift
hospitals opened to receive coronavirus patients in the epidemic’s epicentre
as the number of new infections in the country hit a record low.
There were 40 new cases nationwide, the National Health Commission said
Monday, the lowest number of fresh cases since it started reporting the data
in January.
Most of the new cases, as well as 22 new deaths, were in Hubei, the central
province at the epicentre of the outbreak.
The deaths — which were all in Hubei except one — bring the country’s
toll to 3,119.
More than 80,700 people have been infected in total in mainland China.
New infections reported from Hubei have been on a downward trend for
several weeks.
On Monday, all the new cases in the province were in the capital city
Wuhan, where the virus first emerged in December.
In Wuhan, nearly 31,000 patients have recovered and been discharged from
hospital, the provincial government said.
Eleven of the 16 makeshift hospitals in Wuhan converted from public
facilities including stadiums and schools were suspended by Sunday, the
official Xinhua news agency reported.
Two of the most recent makeshift hospitals to be closed — a converted
sports centre and a factory — had enough capacity for nearly 2,000 patients
at a time.
The two hospitals discharged a final batch of 61 patients on Sunday, Xinhua
said.
New infections in China have been generally declining in recent weeks as
the country’s draconian measures appear to be working.
A senior government official hinted last week that China could soon lift
the lockdown on the province imposed in late January, which has effectively
restricted the movement of some 56 million people in Hubei.
The only new cases outside Hubei were four imported from overseas, the
health commission said, bringing the total of imported infections brought
into the country to 67.
The rise in imported cases is raising fears that the country’s progress in
bringing infections down could be undone, and several local authorities are
imposing quarantines on those arriving from hard-hit areas.
BSS/AFP/GMR/0917 hrs