Wuhan closes makeshift hospital as new cases of coronavirus in China drop sharply

The Chinese city at the center of the coronavirus epidemic closed its first makeshift hospital, one of 16 hurriedly built to handle the epidemic, after it discharged the last recovered patients, state broadcaster CCTV said today, reports Reuters.

News of the closure coincided with a sharp decline in new cases in Hubei province and the provincial capital Wuhan, but the country remained on alert as Chinese nationals returning home are testing positive for the virus.

China’s central Hubei province, the epicenter of the country’s coronavirus outbreak, reported less than 200 cases of new infections for the first time since January.

Hubei had 196 new confirmed cases on Sunday, the National Health Commission said on Monday, sharply down from 570 cases a day earlier and the lowest since Jan. 24.

The decline was driven by a fall in new cases in Wuhan, where the virus first appeared last December, which reported 193 new infections, the lowest since Jan. 26.

The death toll from the outbreak in mainland China reached 2,912 as of the end of Sunday, up by 42 from the previous day.

Hubei accounted for all of the 42 new deaths, while 32 people died in Wuhan.