Zero infection

A TOTAL of 23 provincial-level regions and the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps reported no increase of newly confirmed cases of novel coronavirus (COVID-19) infection Monday, Mi Feng, a spokesperson for the National Health Commission, said yesterday.

Seven provinces reported no more than two new confirmed cases Monday, Mi said at a press conference in Beijing.

Meanwhile, China’s daily number of newly cured and discharged novel coronavirus patients has surpassed that of new infections for the seventh consecutive day.

Relative infected

ANOTHER relative of the 27th COVID-19 patient in Taiwan was confirmed to be infected yesterday, raising the total number of COVID-19 cases to 31 on the island, according to the island’s epidemic monitoring agency.

The new patient is the grandson of the elderly man who was confirmed to be infected with the virus Sunday, the agency said in a press release.

The patient had visited his grandfather in the hospital Feb. 11 and Feb. 19 and took the infection test for being in close contact, though he has shown no symptoms of the illness, the statement said. Authorities are still investigating the infection source of this case.

Medical waste

MEDICAL waste from hospitals that are fighting the novel coronavirus epidemic in Central China’s Hubei Province has been burned in cement kilns as part of the efforts to contain the spread of the disease.

At about 7 p.m. Monday, a total of 248 buckets of such medical waste, weighing over four tons, were transported to a cement company in Yangxin County for hazard-free disposal.

The medical waste was disinfected before entering the company’s large cement kiln.