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The central Chinese city of Wuhan, the first pandemic Covid-19 epicenter where the virus emerged late last year, has no remaining cases in hospitals, China announced Sunday.
The new coronavirus is believed to have originated from a wet seafood and meat market in Wuhan before spreading across China and then globally.
The first cases of Covid-19 were discovered among Wuhan residents in December.
Coronavirus outbreak: full coverage
Since then, more than 2.8 million people have become ill from the rapidly spreading virus, and nearly 200,000 have died worldwide.
“The latest news is that by April 26, the number of new coronavirus patients in Wuhan was zero, thanks to the joint efforts of Wuhan and medical personnel across the country,” said spokesperson for the National Health Commission (CNH), Mi Feng. briefing in Beijing on Sunday.
The last seriously ill patient in Wuhan, the capital of Hubei province, was cured on Friday, reducing the number of these patients in the city to zero, Mi said.
Wuhan, however, registered 20 new silent carriers of the virus on Friday, with 535 suspected patients under medical observation.
The city of around 11 million people was under a total blockade for 76 days as of January 23, but still saw the highest number of cases and deaths in China.
According to revised Chinese government estimates released earlier this month, the total number of confirmed infections in the city was 50,333, while there were 1,290 more deaths, bringing the total number of deaths to 3,869.
The focus in China is now on imported cases.
NHC authorities said Sunday they received reports of 11 new confirmed cases of Covid-19 on the mainland on Saturday, of which five were imported.
The other six new cases were transmitted nationwide, the NHC said in its daily report, noting that five cases were reported in northeast China’s Heilongjiang province and one in southern Guangdong province.
No deaths or suspicious cases were reported Saturday on the mainland.
Health authorities are also focusing on Beijing, which now has the only Covid-19 high-risk area in the country.
On Sunday, the Beijing government released new regulations aimed at improving public hygiene, banning “uncivilized” behavior by citizens.
The rules include a prohibition on “uncivilized” behavior, such as not covering your mouth and nose when coughing or sneezing.
The regulations include a renewed emphasis on “dressing well” and not going shirtless in public, in a reference to the practice called “Beijing bikini,” where men roll up T-shirts and shirts to expose their stomachs in the summer.
Beijing already discourages a variety of “uncivilized” behaviors, including spitting in public, littering, walking unleashed dogs, throwing things from tall buildings, defecating in public, and smoking in places where it is prohibited.
“But the latest rules, approved on Friday, describe new specific penalties.
The fines for littering, spitting and defecating in public were raised to a maximum of 200 yuan ($ 28), from an earlier upper limit of 50 yuan, ”the AFP news agency said in a report on Sunday.
