Wuhan closes its coronavirus hospital in China

BEIJING / SHANGHAI The Chinese city at the center of the coronavirus epidemic has closed the first of 16 specially built hospitals set up in a hurry to treat people with the virus, after releasing its last recovered patients, announced Monday the public television channel CCTV.

The news of the closure coincided with a sharp drop in the number of new cases in Hubei Province and its capital, Wuhan, but China remained on the alert for returnees with the virus from other countries where it has spread.

"The rapidly increasing trend of virus cases in Wuhan has been brought under control," said Mi Feng, spokesperson for the National Health Commission of China.

"The epidemics in Hubei outside Wuhan are being curbed and the provinces outside Hubei are showing a positive trend."

The virus appeared in Wuhan at the end of last year and has infected more than 86,500 people, the majority in China, most in Hubei.

Outside of China, it has spread rapidly in recent days, now in 53 countries, with more than 6,500 cases and more than 100 deaths. In total, the disease killed nearly 3,000 people.

Hubei reported 196 new infections on Sunday, the first time since January, it reported fewer than 200 in one day, the National Health Commission announced on Monday.

After what some critics have said was an initially hesitant response to the new virus, China has imposed sweeping restrictions to try to stop it, including widespread suspensions of transportation and the extension of the Lunar New Year holidays across the country.

Mr. Mi said authorities would move from "comprehensive containment to targeted containment" measures, with an emphasis on community containment and medical treatment.

Wuhan Communist Party Leader Chen Yixin hailed government efforts to prevent viruses and said he expected the number of new cases to drop below 100 soon per day, said the Central Committee of Political and Legal Affairs of the Communist Party.

"The situation with the epidemic is under strict control," said Chen of the situation in the city.

Mainland China counted 202 new confirmed cases on Sunday, the lowest since January 22. All but six were in Hubei.

The death toll from the epidemic in mainland China reached 2,912 at the end of Sunday, 42 more than the previous day.

Hubei is responsible for all 42 new deaths, including 32 in Wuhan.

SLOW RETURN TO COMPANIES

With the decline in the number of new infections, Wuhan closed its first specially built hospital after the last batch of 34 recovered patients was released, CCTV reported.

Wuhan opened 16 temporary hospitals, added 13,000 beds and treated 12,000 people in response to the epidemic.

Eighteen provinces across China have lowered their coronavirus emergency response levels in the past week, the latest being Zhejiang Province.

There are also growing signs of the recovery of the world's second largest economy after a crippling February that saw factory activity contract sharply.

The Shanghai Mall's Office of Economics and Information Technology said that 66% of its businesses have resumed operations, although only 53% of small businesses have returned to work, which underlines the persistent difficulties for private companies.

Chinese stocks climbed in the hope that the government would deploy more measures to support the economy. The Shanghai Composite benchmark added 3.2% on Monday, its best day since March 2019.

But as the country slowly returns to normal, President Xi Jinping has warned that China needs to take a long-term view of the epidemic and fill gaps in emergency response mechanisms. .

The case of an infected detainee released from a prison in Wuhan, who then went to Beijing, has notably drawn strong criticism of the loopholes.

A government investigation team sent to Wuhan on Monday called the return of the former detainee to Beijing a "serious incident caused by the neglect of his duties," CCTV reported.

To illustrate the dangers of what has evolved into a global epidemic, Beijing has reported two new cases of coronavirus in Chinese nationals recently returned from Iran, where the epidemic has grown rapidly.

The Global Times newspaper also reported on Monday an imported case from a person returning from Italy, which has become the hotspot for coronavirus in Europe.

(Reporting by Ryan Woo, David Stanway, Se Young Lee, Emily Chow and Andrew Galbraith; Editing by Michael Perry, Roert Birsel)