CORONAVIRUS is now killing more people a day outside China – where the outbreak began just over two months ago.
Figures released by China suggest the tide of the epidemic in the nation may be turning as just 38 deaths were reported yesterday.
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Meanwhile, the death toll for the rest of the world surged with a total of 86 people succumbing to the disease on Wednesday.
They included cases in the US, Iran, South Korea and Italy, where there has been a worrying spread of Covid-19.
The virus has now infected more than 95,000 people with a total of 3,286 deaths worldwide.
Of those 80,000 infections and 2,900 deaths were in mainland China.
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But only 119 new cases of infections were reported there on Wednesday, according to new government figures.
The majority came from the Hubei province, where Wuhan – the city at the epicentre of the outbreak – is located.
Most of the mainland provinces haven’t reported any new infections over the last week.
In fact, Shanghai has reported just one new cases in the last six days, the New York Times reported.
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Health experts believe that the government’s efforts to control the spread of the virus have paid off.
Dr Benjamin Cowling, an infectious disease expert at Hong Kong University, told the newspaper: “It’s very clear that the actions taken in China have almost brought to an end their first wave of infections.”
It’s very clear that the actions taken in China have almost brought to an end their first wave of infections
Dr Benjamin Cowling
World Health Organization (WHO) officials have said other countries have much to learn from the way China has handled the outbreak and Vice Foreign Minister Ma Zhaoxu said many countries had asked for help and China was responding.
It comes after reports that one of the first temporary hospitals built in Wuhan to deal specifically with the virus has closed after discharging the last of its patients.
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Despite the virus slowing in China, it appears to be spreading faster in other countries.
The number of infected Americans has soared by 106 per cent in the last week alone.
Meanwhile, the UK saw its biggest ever daily jump yesterday when cases rocketed to 85.
Overseas hot spots
With the downward trend in new cases, Chinese authorities have turned their attention to stopping the virus being brought in from new coronavirus hot spots abroad.
Authorities have asked overseas Chinese residents to reconsider their travel plans, while cities across the country have set up quarantine rules for those entering from high-risk places.
An infected person is known to have arrived in China from Iran, one of the virus’ new hot spots, last week.
The cities of Shanghai and Guangdong have ordered people who have been in countries with severe outbreaks within the previous two weeks to stay in quarantine for 14 days.
The city of Chengdu in central Sichuan province said it was also ordering quarantine for such people.
The NHC has said authorities were transitioning from “overall containment to targeted containment” measures, with a focus on containment within communities, and medical treatment.
Ma told a briefing China would make donations to South Korea, Iraq, Cambodia and Sri Lanka, on top of what it has already given to Pakistan, Japan and Iran.
China was also considering responding to WHO call for donations, he said.
“Many of the countries which have requested for our help had actually helped us previously, so when we help these countries, it is to help them fight the virus, and also to repay their kindness,” Ma said.
