Coronavirus: China reports just eight new cases

Health authorities say outbreak is now past its peak and offers assistance to other virus-stricken countries

China’s health authorities confirmed just eight new cases of COVID-19 on Friday, the country’s lowest daily figure on record since it began reporting infections in January.

In a daily briefing by the National Health Commission, five of the newly confirmed cases were in Wuhan, where the majority of cases are concentrated. The others were imported from overseas into Shanghai and Beijing.

This brings the total number of confirmed cases to 80,813. Seven people also died on Thursday, pushing the death toll up to 3,176.

The commission said 64,111 patients on the mainland have been “cured and discharged from hospital”.

China suggested on Thursday that the outbreak has passed its peak in China, and offered to help other countries who are seeing the number of cases soar as the virus continues to spread.

In a phone call with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, state media reported that President Xi Jinping offered “as much assistance as it can” to aid countries where the virus is spreading and conduct joint research on drugs and vaccines.

He added that great efforts had been made by Chinese nationals, whose “hard work has won precious time for and made important contributions to other countries’ epidemic prevention and control”.

Xi was quoted as saying: “The Chinese people will definitely prevail over the COVID-19 epidemic and will also definitely realise its intended targets for economic and social development.”

As China’s reported figures start to decline, other worst-hit countries including Italy and Iran are fighting to contain the outbreak.

In Italy, where the death toll surpassed 1,000 people on Thursday, a nationwide lockdown has shuttered all shops except supermarkets, food stores and pharmacies. More than 15,000 people have been infected.

Iran is the worst-hit country in the Middle East, with more than 10,000 infections and 429 deaths. Of those, 75 deaths were reported in the past 24 hours.

There is some optimism the virus may be slowing in South Korea, where Asia’s biggest outbreak outside of China began around the same time as Italy.

South Korea reported more recoveries than new infections on Friday for the first time since the outbreak began in January.

The Korea Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) recorded 110 new Covid-19 cases on Friday, but said 117 patients had been released from hospitals where they were isolated for treatment.

KCDC chief Jeong Eun-kyeong said the trend is expected to persist as more self-quarantined patients are expected to be discharged in the coming days.

But South Korean officials urged all parts of the country to maintain vigilance as new clusters emerged at a call centre in Seoul and at the fisheries ministry in the city of Sejong.

Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun said at a meeting in Daegu, where the outbreak began: “We’ve managed to turn a corner, but there are concerns about overseas inflows, as well as possible infections at home around such facilities such as call centres, computer cafes and karaoke rooms.”

Additional reporting by agencies