China’s coronavirus epicenter reports zero new cases

The Chinese province – Hubei – at the center of the coronavirus outbreak reported no new infections for the first time since the pathogen emerged more than two months ago, marking a turning point in an epidemic that’s infected over 80,900 inhabitants and threatens to push the world’s second-largest economy into its first quarterly contraction in decades.

However, Chinese capital Beijing reported 21 new cases of infections from abroad on Wednesday, mostly people traveling from Spain and Britain. The Beijing infections accounted for the bulk of the 34 new imported cases seen in mainland China.

(PAP)