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China allows gradual opening of Wuhan after Xi's visit to coronavirus epicentre

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Press Trust of India Beijing

As the coronavirus showed signs of abating after virtually shutting down China for over two months, the Communist nation limped back to normalcy with measured opening of businesses in the worst-hit Wuhan city even as authorities reported 22 new fatalities, taking the death toll to 3,158.

A day after President Xi Jinping's first visit to Hubei province capital Wuhan since the virus outbreak, Chinese officials on Wednesday announced differentiated business and production resumption plans based on the epidemic situations.

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Hubei province with over 50 million people was under lockdown since January 23. Wuhan and the sprawling province bore the brunt of the virus after it reportedly originated from a local live animal market in December last.

 

China also began initiating measures to gradually restart its massive economic engine, which was virtually remained shut down since January fourth week.

The plans, announced by local officials in Wuhan, allows businesses that support the supply of medical resources, daily necessities, and agricultural materials to return to work.

Enterprises that are related to the national economy, people's livelihood, and the global industrial chain are also encouraged to gradually resume operations with approval.

Though slowed down, the coronavirus continue to cause fatalities as China's National Health Commission (NHC) said on Wednesday that 24 new confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus and 22 deaths have been reported.

All the 22 deaths were in the virus epicentre Hubei province and its capital Wuhan, it said.

The overall confirmed cases on the mainland reached 80,778 by the end of Tuesday, including 3,158 people who died of the disease in the last three months, 16,145 patients undergoing treatment and 61,475 discharged after recovery, it said.

With COVID-19 gradually abating in the country, China has now braced itself to deal with the growing number of "imported cases" as more foreigners and locals started arriving in Beijing and different cities to join duties.

Officials in Beijing on Wednesday tightened up quarantine checks at the airports and epidemic prevention measures in foreign communities.

Beijing reported six new imported cases of coronavirus on Tuesday. Five of the confirmed cases are from Italy, and one is from the US, officials said.

As of Tuesday, a total of 435 confirmed cases had been reported in Beijing. Of all, 326 have been discharged from hospital after recovery, and eight have died.

In the face of the challenges from the imported cases, Chen Bei, deputy secretary-general of the Beijing Municipal Government, said that starting from March 10, the Beijing Capital International Airport has setup a designated special zone for inbound flights from countries with serious coronavirus situations.

All passengers disembarking from such flights need to complete the process of health quarantine, including body temperature screening and information inspection within the area, which is isolated from other passenger arriving channels at the airport, Chen said.

Foreigners are being either quarantined in designated hotels if they are coming from affected countries or go to community supervised home quarantine for two weeks.

Wearing a protective mask, 66-year-old Xi on Tuesday made his first visit to Wuhan where he declared that the spread of coronavirus had been curbed.

The initial success has been made in stabilising the situation and turning the tide in Hubei and Wuhan, Xi said.

Accompanied by military and health officials, Xi visited a makeshift hospital treating severely ill COVID-19 patients and a residential community.

He visited patients, medics, community residents and workers, police officers, military personnel, officials and volunteers who have been fighting the novel coronavirus, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

Xi, who initially came under criticism for not acting in time to stem the virus when it emerged in December last but later won praise for a decisive follow-up action, vowed to resolutely fight for a victory in the war against the virus.

Meeting medic representatives in the hospital, Xi said the spread of the virus has been basically curbed in Hubei and Wuhan, and attributed the achievement to efforts of the whole country and the whole society.

"But you are the biggest heroes," Xi told the medics.

Praising the people of Wuhan, Xi said the positive trend in epidemic control could not have been achieved without their sacrifice, devotion and perseverance.

With their concrete actions, the people of Wuhan have demonstrated the strength and spirit of China, as well as the Chinese people's love for their family and nation, which enables them to stick together through thick and thin, he said.

Coinciding with his visit, Chinese officials announced that 14 makeshift hospitals have been dismantled in Wuhan as cases have dramatically dropped.

This is the second visit by a top Chinese leader to Wuhan.

Premier Li Keqiang visited Wuhan on January 26 when the COVID-19 virus spread at an alarming pace.

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First Published: Mar 11 2020 | 7:14 PM IST

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