China on Thursday said the peak of the novel coronavirus in the country is over but its success in controlling the deadly disease has become complicated due to a global surge in the COVID-19 cases.
In China, new cases keep declining and the overall epidemic situation remains at a low level, Mi Feng, a spokesperson for the National Health Commission (NHC), told the media here.
Mi's remarks came a day after the World Health Organisation on Wednesday declared the COVID-19 outbreak as a "pandemic."
Mi said the number of new confirmed cases in Wuhan, the capital of the worst-hit Hubei province, has dropped to a single digit, with just eight new infections reported on Wednesday. Only seven new cases were reported on the Chinese mainland outside Hubei, but six were imported from overseas.
Among the 11 new deaths on Wednesday, 10 were in Hubei and one in Shaanxi province.
Wuhan confirmed the appearance of a new virus in December. But the government started acting only from January 23 when it locked down Hubei province and its capital Wuhan with over 50 million people.
By the time over five million residents of the city left for holidays to different parts of China and the world to celebrate the new year.
The highly contagious virus quickly spread, with daily cases peaking at over 15,000 on February 12.
China mobilised the whole country's resources to contain the virus. Cities were locked down, experts and supplies sent to the epicentre, and hundreds of millions of people across the country stayed at home for weeks to enforce social distancing.
By this week, normalcy has been steadily returning to China with many provinces and regions lowering their emergency responses, many businesses resuming operation and 87 per cent of the country's entry and exit authorities having resumed service by Thursday, state run Xinhua news agency reported.
The top priority now, Mi said, should be given to treating patients and vowed no relaxation or loose efforts in the epidemic prevention and control work.
But China's good news is complicated by rapidly developing situations around the world, the Xinhua report said.
The World Health Organisation on Wednesday said the COVID-19 outbreak can be characterized as a "pandemic."
There are now more than 118,000 confirmed cases in 114 countries and regions. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned that the number is expected to climb even higher in the days and weeks ahead.
The WHO's characterization of the COVID-19 outbreak as a "pandemic" was to call on its members once again to make further political commitment and put in more resources to turn things around in the battle against the disease, Mi said.
Mi said China is paying close attention to the current rapid global spread of the epidemic, and will continue to strengthen cooperation with the WHO and relevant countries to contribute to the global viral fight.
Chinese respiratory specialist Zhong Nanshan said China's experience and lessons over the past two months can help the world reduce the spread and deadliness of the outbreak.
If most countries act like China, he said, the global COVID-19 pandemic could be brought under control by June.
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