China says no new deaths in coronavirus milestone

7 April 2020, 12:56 pm

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China reports no new coronavirus deaths for the first time since it started publishing figures in January, just a day before it plans to lift travel curbs from the contagion’s epicentre of Wuhan.

But the announcement comes as suspicions linger that the ruling Communist Party government — already accused of bungling the initial response to the outbreak — continues to intentionally under-report the real number of deaths and infections.

Workers wearing protective suit walk next to Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market in Wuhan, in China’s central Hubei province on March 30, 2020, after travel restrictions into the city were eased following more than two months of lockdown due to the COVID-19 outbreak.(Photo by Hector RETAMAL / AFP)

China denies the suggestion.

Beijing imposed an unprecedented lockdown on tens of millions of people in Wuhan and the rest of Hubei province in late January in a bid to smother the virus, and the number of new domestic infections has dwindled for weeks.

— AFP