Good news from Korea, China
South Korea -- once grappling with the largest coronavirus outbreak outside China -- saw its newly recovered patients exceed fresh infections for the first time yesterday, as it reported the lowest number of new cases for three weeks.
And in China, government yesterday morning reported just eight cases of the coronavirus, with no new domestic infections outside the epicentre of Hubei province. Later in the evening AFP put the number at 20 without giving any more information.
South Korea yesterday confirmed 110 new infections, the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) said, taking its total to date to 7,979. 67 people died so far.
But 177 fully recovered patients were released on Thursday, it added.
South Korea has an advanced medical system widely available to all, and has embarked on a huge coronavirus testing drive.
The number of new cases in Daegu, the southern city at the centre of the country's virus spread, had declined "dramatically" along with those in neighbouring North Gyeongsang province, officials said.
So far, nearly 90 percent of South Korea's cases have been in the two regions.
But Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun, who is leading the response in Daegu, warned that the government "should not be complacent even a bit".
"The battle against the coronavirus has now become a global fight going far beyond Daegu," he said.
In China, the National Health Commission said there were five more people infected in Hubei's capital Wuhan, where the virus first emerged in December. The numbers are the lowest daily tally for Wuhan since China started reporting figures in January.
Three more imported cases from overseas were reported -- two in Shanghai and one in Beijing -- fuelling fears about China's strict containment measures being undone by people coming in from hotspots in other countries.
There have now been 88 imported cases.
Another seven people died, bringing the national toll from the disease in mainland China to 3,176. 80,813 people have been infected.
With new infections falling dramatically in recent days, authorities this week began to loosen some restrictions on Hubei's 56 million people, who have been under quarantine since late January.
The government in Qianjiang, a city of one million, said Thursday it would arrange special transport to take healthy workers to their jobs both inside and outside the province. The local government in Shishou, a small city of just over half a million, was also allowing workers to leave. Meanwhile, healthy people living in low-risk areas of the province can now travel within Hubei.
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