As last temporary Coronavirus hospital shuts, Wuhan doctors celebrate

As the threat of Coronavirus receded with a falling number of cases, hospital staff in the central Chinese city of Wuhan where the outbreak began removed their masks ceremoniously as the country’s last emergency hospital built to handle the crisis was closed. A video, which went viral on social media, showed health workers unmask one by one as the camera passes them, to mark the moment.

READ | China Makes 2-week Quarantine Compulsory For Foreign Returnees As 'imported' Cases Rise

Immediate steps

After the Wuhan outbreak, China built 14 new hospitals, including two in the city, within weeks in the last two months to provide thousands of beds for the infected as the epidemic spread rapidly. The country has recorded over 80,000 cases of Coronavirus and nearly 3,200 deaths so far. But unprecedented quarantine measures like locking down entire provinces appear to have drastically reduced the number of new cases.

READ | COVID-19: China Eases Travel Restrictions After Two Months Of Lockdown

New cases

China on Sunday reported 10 more fatalities due to the novel Coronavirus, taking the death toll to 3,199, while the imported cases rose to 111, prompting authorities to order a compulsory 14-day quarantine in "special facilities" for foreigners arriving here from Monday. China's National Health Commissions (NHC) said 20 new confirmed cases of the novel Coronavirus infection and 10 deaths were reported from all over the country on Saturday.

READ | China’s Move To Lockdown Wuhan Delayed Spread Of Coronavirus Outside: Study

Slowly but steadily

As the number of Coronavirus cases in China is going down, life is slowly returning to normal in the disease-hit country. According to reports, workers are gradually returning to their jobs and Hubei residents who were stranded in other parts of the country are going home after travel restrictions were eased for the first time in two months. China's health commission on March 12 said that the peak in Coronavirus epidemic in the country has passed and authorities have allowed some industries to resume production in two cities of Hubei province.

READ | Coronavirus Outbreak: China Reports 11 New Infections, Including 7 'imported' Cases