The last COVID-19 patient in Wuhan, a 77-year-old man, was discharged from hospital on April 26, Sunday, bringing the total number of active cases in the city to zero. According to the Wuhan Municipal Health Commission, the patient tested negative twice in a row and had no clinical symptoms.
“This is a historic day”, Shang You, a doctor in Wuhan, told Xinhua. “With the joint efforts of Wuhan and the national medical aid given to Hubei province, all cases of Covid-19 in Wuhan were cleared as of April 26,” said National Health Commission spokesperson Mi Feng, according to South China Morning Post.
Wuhan, the capital of Hubei province, is one of the largest cities in China with a population of more than 11 million. Cases of a new viral infection were found in the city in December last year, later identified as causing the COVID-19 disease.
Sensing the severity of the disease, the city was locked down on January 23 in order to maintain physical distancing. Essential supplies were provided by municipal workers and volunteers directly to people’s homes.
By mid-February, the number of cases peaked. By April 26, it had recorded 50,333 cases with more than 3,869 deaths in total.
The government built 16 temporary hospitals and added around 60,000 beds to tackle the emergency. Over 42,000 medical workers were sent to Hubei province from across the country with key medical supplies.
By March, the number of new cases had started coming down in China. In Hubei province, no new cases have been recorded in the last 20 days and the number of total active cases has dropped below 50.
A total of 801 active cases were being treated in different parts of mainland China as on Saturday. On Sunday, China reported just three new confirmed cases of COVID-19, of which two were imported, meaning that persons were infected outside the country.
Most of the imported cases are that of Chinese returning from Russia through the land border in the north of the country.
The total recorded locally transmitted cases in China, as on Sunday, stand at 82,830, with 4,633 deaths. More than 77,000 of these patients have so far recovered and been discharged.
The lockdown of Wuhan was lifted on April 8. The public transport inside the city reopened last week and schools are expected to open from May 6.
Most of the industries have resumed operations with more than 98% of the workers already reporting back to work.
