CHINA’S XI INSPECTS WUHAN.

Xi declares success in battle against virus

Xi Jinping has visited Wuhan for the first time since the coronavirus emerged there, as Beijing touted its success in fighting the outbreak.

China’s president arrived “to inspect the prevention and control of the coronavirus epidemic,” said state media.

He saw medical staff, military, police and volunteers, and was pictured speaking via video link to workers at an emergency field hospital built for coronavirus patients. His visit was seen as a signal from Beijing that China’s government was claiming triumph in a “people’s war” against the outbreak, which has infected 115,000 people around the world and killed more than 4,000.

“The situation of coronavirus prevention in Hubei and Wuhan has shown positive changes and achieved phased results, initially realizing goals to stabilize and turn around the situation,” he was quoted as saying.

Xi acknowledged that people under a lengthy quarantine — Wuhan and much of Hubei province have been under strict controls since late January — may have frustrations to vent.

“We must understand and tolerate them,” he stated. The media also reported that all temporary hospitals handling virus patients had closed.

While this indicated Beijing believed the worst may be over, epidemiologists said the outbreak was far from ending, given the risk of infections coming into China from abroad. More than 70 per cent of the world’s infections are in China, where the number of new cases has begun to subside. Tuesday was the third consecutive day in which no locally transmitted infections were discovered outside Hubei province, which includes Wuhan.

China recorded 19 new cases on Monday, according to the national health commission. Of those, 17 were in Wuhan, and the other two — one in Beijing and the other in Guangdong — were brought in by travellers arriving from abroad.

China has stepped up its propaganda efforts in recent days to re-frame the narrative around its handling of the outbreak after a botched initial response, potentially exacerbating the global spread and leading to public outcry after Li Wenliang, the whistleblower doctor, died from the virus.

As the virus spread within countries including the U.K., U.S., Italy, South Korea and Iran, China was trying to position itself as a leader in the response to the public health emergency.

Last week, Beijing sent experts and supplies to Iran and donated $26.5 million to the World Health Organization.