China has no local transmission of coronavirus for the third straight day

Chinese authorities announced on Saturday, the 21st, that, for the third consecutive day, there were no cases of local transmission of Covid-19 in the country, but confirmed new infections originating abroad. The contagion rate has declined in recent weeks in China , while the rest of the world is taking steps to try to fight the pandemic.

The World Health Organization (WHO) on Friday praised China's success in controlling the outbreak in the city of Wuhan, where the virus was first identified late last year. "Wuhan offers hope to the rest of the world that even the most serious situation can be changed," said WHO Secretary-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus in a conference call in Geneva.

Some 56 million people in Hubei province, whose capital is Wuham, were subjected to a giant forced quarantine in January, although local authorities began to gradually tighten restrictions as cases eased.

However, China has stepped up controls to deal with infections brought in from other countries. This Saturday alone, 41 new cases were imported into the country, the highest daily number to date. In total, 269 cases were brought to China from abroad.

Beijing and other regions force those coming from another country to go through a 14-day quarantine. At the same time, the Ministry of Civil Aviation announced this week that it would limit the number of passengers on international flights.

More than 81,000 cases have been reported in China, although, according to the National Health Commission, only 6,013 patients still have symptoms of the disease. The death toll has also dropped dramatically, with seven deaths recorded on Saturday, all in Hubei province.

The death toll in China, 3,255, was exceeded this week by Italy, where more than 4,000 people have died. The pandemic has already infected more than 250,000 people worldwide, with more than 11,000 deaths.