Wuhan doctors celebrate closure of last temporary hospital after dramatic fall in cases in China
- 16 Mar 2020
Gulf Today Report
Hospital staff in the Chinese city where the coronavirus originated removed their masks ceremoniously as the country’s last emergency hospital, built to handle the crisis, was closed.
In a video that has been viewed millions of times online, workers remove their masks one by one as the camera passes them, to mark the moment.
After declaring they had "basically" curbed the spread of the disease within China, where the virus first emerged, authorities are now worried about an influx of infections arriving from other countries.
Health chiefs say only 12 new cases recorded on one day as tally falls.
Beijing's city government has ordered international arrivals from Monday onwards to go into quarantine facilities for 14 days.
China built 14 new hospitals, including two in Wuhan, early last month in just weeks to provide thousands of beds for the sick as the virus spread rapidly.
The country has recorded 80,824 cases of coronavirus since the start of the outbreak at the end of last year.
The death toll now stands at 3,213 after 14 more fatalities were reported on Monday.
But strict quarantine measures appear to have drastically reduced the number of new cases, and the country has eased up on the measures in its hardest hit region.
Travellers had previously been allowed to undergo the mandatory isolation at home, but now only those with "special circumstances" will be exempted from the new rules, and those sent to the facilities must pay for their stay.
Authorities have not given further detail on which travellers will be exempted from the new quarantine.
More than 65,000 people have recovered from the disease in China.
The market, where numerous live animals that would never normally mix in the wild, were kept in close confinement in cages ready for sale for eating, was pinpointed by Chinese and other experts as the source of the virus.
The country's progress contrasts with the growing crisis abroad, with the worldwide death toll surpassing 6,000 as Italy recorded its biggest one-day rise in fatalities.
