Zero deaths in China, a first since the start of the epidemic

China has been waiting for this for three months: for the first time on Tuesday, the country announced no deaths from the Covid-19, a few hours before the lifting of the closure of Wuhan, the epicenter city of the disease.

The country is thus moving a little more towards a way out of the crisis in the face of the new coronavirus. Appeared in 2019 on its territory, it has since killed more than 70,000 people worldwide.

In order to stem the spread of the virus, China had decreed in late January the drastic confinement of more than 50 million people in Wuhan, the cradle of the epidemic, and in the rest of central Hubei province.

Paid technique: after having exceeded one hundred in February, the daily number of deaths has plunged in recent weeks, falling to the figure of zero announced Tuesday by the Ministry of Health.

But this reassuring figure must be tempered.

Because two new risks have appeared: infected people arriving from abroad, and the invisible threat of asymptomatic patients - who have no cough or fever but can still transmit the virus.

Hubei residents were confined to their homes for two months. At the end of March, those of them who do not live in Wuhan were able to get out of their homes and even leave the province, provided they were not sick.

And one of the last big hurdles will soon jump in a few hours: at midnight local time (4:00 p.m. GMT) overnight Tuesday through Wednesday, healthy people will be allowed to leave the provincial capital.

"No relaxation"

"The elderly are rather enthusiastic. They are impatient to be able to go out," said Xia, a 43-year-old resident.

But the candidates for departure are limited by the reduction in the number of flights and trains serving Wuhan, a measure imposed at the height of the epidemic, the town hall told AFP.

The municipality also stressed that various restrictions on movement in the city would be maintained. Objective stated: prevent any resurgence of infections.

"Many people think that from April 8 they can relax a little. But in reality, we will need increased vigilance," the Hubei Daily said on Sunday, quoting a senior official from Wuhan.

"There will be no relaxation," he promised.

The town hall remains on the alert: it has removed from 70 residential districts previously classified "without epidemic" this appellation which allows the inhabitants to leave their accommodation.

The municipality justified this decision by the discovery in these residential complexes of asymptomatic people. Wuhan reported 34 new cases on Monday.

"This discovery shows that the controls are being tightened," said doctor Xiao, AFP. "The end of confinement does not mean that everything will be fully reopened. You will always have to register when entering or leaving a place," she said.

Doubts

"Even if the confinement is lifted tomorrow, we must try to stay inside as much as possible," added Mr. Xia, a resident of Wuhan.

The decline in recent weeks of contamination and death in China is accompanied by doubts about the reliability of official figures released by the government.

Families notably reported in the Chinese press that people who died at home or who were not tested at the start of the epidemic, when hospitals were overcrowded, were not counted.

In addition, if the new cases of contamination of local origin fell to zero, China still faces a wave of imported infections. The Ministry of Health on Tuesday announced a thousand cumulative cases.

The organization also reported 32 new cases of contamination - all of imported origin.

Beyond the airports alone, the authorities will also strengthen their controls at land borders, the government said on Monday.

China reported its first death on January 11. Since then, nearly 82,000 people have been infected in the country, including 3,331 fatally.