Xi makes 1st visit since outbreak to China’s epicenter Wuhan

BEIJING — Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday made his first visit to Wuhan, the central Chinese city that has been hit hardest by the new virus epidemic.

In this March 8, 2020, photo released by Xinhua News Agency, a staff member clean up an empty makeshift hospital in Wuhan, central China’s Hubei Province. The makeshift hospital converted from a sports venue was officially closed on Sunday after its last batch of cured COVID-19 patients were discharged. (Xiao Yijiu/Xinhua via AP)

State media reported Xi arrived in the morning in Wuhan, which is currently under lockdown along with several nearby cities.

Xi will inspect the epidemic prevention and control work and visit medical workers, community volunteers, patients and others on the front lines, state media said.

The battle to halt the coronavirus has brought sweeping new restrictions in Europe and the Middle East, with Italy expanding a travel ban to the entire country, Israel ordering all visitors quarantined just weeks before Passover and Easter, and Spain closing all schools in and around its capital.

“Now that the virus has a foothold in so many countries, the threat of a pandemic has become very real,” said World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. “The great advantage we have is the decisions we all make as governments, businesses, communities, families and individuals can influence the trajectory of this epidemic.”

More than 113,000 people have been infected with the virus, and more than 3,900 have died of the COVID-19 illness it causes. Most of the cases are in China, but its proportion is shrinking as the caseload grows elsewhere. More than 62,000 people have already recovered. But Italy’s intensifying struggle to halt the virus’ spread emerged as a cautionary tale.

 GSG