BEIJING – China for the first time on Saturday reported zero newcoronavirus infections since it started reporting data in January.
The virus first emerged in the central Chinese city of Wuhan late lastyear, but cases have dwindled dramatically from the peak in mid-February asthe country appears to have brought the virus largely under control.
The official death toll in the country of 1.4 billion people stands at4,634, well below the number of fatalities in much smaller countries.
However, doubt has been cast on the reliability of China´s numbers and theUnited States has led the charge in questioning how much informationBeijing has shared with the international community.
The milestone comes a day after the opening of China´s rubber-stampparliament, the National People´s Congress, where Premier Li Keqiang saidthe country had “made major strategic achievements in our response toCOVID-19.”
However he warned that the country still faced “immense” challenges.
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Authorities in Wuhan have come under fire for reprimanding and silencingdoctors who first raised the alarm about the virus late last year, andrepeated changes to counting methodology have cast further doubt overChina´s official data.
Beijing has strenuously denied accusations of a cover up, insisting it hasalways shared information with the World Health Organization (WHO) andother countries in a timely manner.
Since first emerging in Wuhan the virus has spread across the world,claiming more than 335,000 lives globally. -APP/AFP
