...But Chinese crackdown cuts new cases to a trickle

CHINA reported just 102 new cases of coronavirus yesterday – the lowest rise since January.

The slowdown prompted cautious optimism that the hardline crackdown by Chinese authorities was starting to bring the epidemic under control.

There were 74 confirmed new cases in Wuhan city, where the outbreak emerged last year, and none in wider Hubei province.

The vast majority of the country’s other 28 cases were imported from abroad.

The turnaround is a sign of how successful China’s controversial ‘iron grip’ policy of enforced lockdowns has been. Tens of millions of people across Hubei province and further afield continue to live under quarantine, with officials fearful that relaxing the measures will lead to fresh outbreaks.

Outside China, seven countries reported bigger daily rises on Saturday – led by Iran (1,234), Italy (778) and South Korea (483).

Health journalist Helen Branswell tweeted: ‘It’s beginning to feel like posting China’s new Covid-19 numbers doesn’t make a lot of sense, given how much spread there is in so many other places.’

The US posted a rise of 243 new confirmed cases, although experts believe its total number of 401 cases to date is just the tip of the iceberg as so few people there have been tested.

Mike Ryan, executive director of the World Health Organisation’s emergencies programme, warned it was ‘a false hope’ to think the epidemic would fade in spring sunshine.

And last night, the World Health Organisation marked the ‘sombre moment’ of surpassing 100,000 cases globally by warning: ‘Allowing uncontrolled spread should not be a choice of any government as it will not only harm citizens of that country but affect other countries as well.’