Wuhan, where the new coronavirus emerged, is an example of 'hope', says WHO

The director general of the World Health Organization (WHO) , Tedros Adhanom , called this Friday, 20, the Chinese city of Wuhan , where the first case of the new coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2), a example of “hope” for the whole world. Epicenter of the epidemic in China , with almost 50,000 sick and more than 2,000 dead before the beginning of March, Wuhan has not reported any new cases of local contamination since Thursday 19.

"Yesterday, Wuhan did not register new cases for the first time since the epidemic began," said Adhanom. "Wuhan gives hope to the rest of the world, showing that even the most serious situation is reversible," added the director general.

In fact, no region in China has reported cases of local transmission of the virus in the past 48 hours . Chinese authorities, however, registered 39 new cases on Friday, in addition to another 34 on Thursday - all "imported", meaning the patient was infected in another country.

The city of Wuhan, where the first cases of the new coronavirus were reported, had registered 48,557 patients and 2,169 deaths as of February 29, according to The New York  Times . The epidemic would have arisen in a market where live animals, fish and seafood are traded in Wuhan.

Alone, China accounts for 38% of the almost 210,000 cases reported by WHO by the beginning of Thursday. The organization points out that more than 3,200 people died on Chinese soil as a result of the epidemic.

As of this Friday, according to  Times estimates , the pandemic has already resulted in some 250,800 sick and at least 10,368 deaths in more than 115 countries.

(With AFP)