Outbreak of coronavirus continues to wane in China

The outbreak continues to wane in China, where the virus was first detected in December.

The health ministry on Tuesday announces just 125 new cases of the virus detected over the past 24 hours, the lowest number since authorities began publishing nationwide figures on Jan. 21. Another 31 deaths were reported, all of them in the hardest-hit province of Hubei. The figures bring China’s total number of cases to 80,151 with 2,943 deaths.

China’s UN ambassador says the government believes that “victory” over the coronavirus won’t be far behind the coming of spring.

Zhang Jun tells a news conference at UN headquarters in New York that “China’s fight against the coronavirus is indeed making huge progress, and the situation is really becoming stable.”

— AP