CHINA said Thursday the peak of the current outbreak of novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in the country is over, hours after the World Health Organization declared the epidemic outbreak a pandemic.
New cases keep declining and the overall epidemic situation remains at a low level in China, Mi Feng, a spokesperson for the National Health Commission, said at a press conference in Beijing.
Mi said the number of new confirmed cases in Wuhan, the epicenter in Central China’s Hubei Province, has dropped to a single digit, with only eight cases reported Wednesday.
No new cases had been reported in other cities of Hubei for a week in a row. Only seven new cases were reported on the Chinese mainland outside Hubei, but six were imported from overseas, he added.
Mi said the top priority should be given to treating patients and vowed not to relax or let up on efforts in the epidemic prevention and control work.
This developed as the WHO announced Wednesday that the COVID-19 outbreak can be characterized as a “pandemic” as the virus spreads increasingly worldwide.
The WHO’s characterization of the outbreak as a “pandemic” aims to call on its members once again to make further political commitments and put in more resources toward turning things around in the battle against the virus, Mi said.
Since the outbreak of COVID-19, China has taken the most comprehensive, strict and thorough prevention and control measures, gaining precious time for itself and other countries and regions in setting up their own epidemic prevention and control, he added.
“China is paying close attention to the current rapid global spread of the epidemic, and can empathize with other countries in terms of the pressure in prevention and control,” Mi said.
There are now more than 118,000 confirmed cases in 114 countries and regions, and 4,291 people have lost their lives, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at a press conference in Geneva on Wednesday, noting that the number of coronavirus cases, deaths and affected countries is expected to climb even higher in the days and weeks ahead.
Tedros said the WHO is “deeply concerned both by the alarming levels of spread and severity, as well as by the alarming levels of inaction.”
“We have never before seen a pandemic sparked by a coronavirus. And we have never before seen a pandemic that can be controlled at the same time,” he said.
He urged the international community to take urgent and aggressive action to contain the pandemic.(Xinhua)
Local Daily Report on COVID-19 Infections Total: 420 New: 1 Recovered: 392 Death toll: 3 | 