China's coronavirus epicentre Hubei sees single-digit cases for first time

China had eight new coronavirus infections in Hubei province, the first time the epicentre of the epidemic recorded a daily tally in single-digits, as more businesses reopened with local authorities cautiously easing strict containment measures. The capital of Hubei, Wuhan, reported all of the new cases on Wednesday, the National Health Commission said on Thursday. The domestic spread of the disease has slowed markedly in the past seven days, a result of weeks of strict measures imposed to control the movement of people and traffic, including the virtual lockdown of Wuhan, a city of 11 million people. Outside of Hubei, mainland China had seven new cases, including six cases imported from abroad. 

Of the six imported cases, Guangdong province accounted for three, while Gansu province and Henan province were responsible for two and one, respectively. Overall, the 15 new confirmed cases in mainland China on Wednesday was a drop from 24 cases a day earlier. That brings the total number of confirmed cases recorded in mainland China to 80,793. India on Wednesday evening decided to virtually quarantine itself from the rest of the world, suspending all visas, except those issued for diplomatic, official, UN-international organisations, employment and projects till April 15. US too has banned travel from all European nations except UK for 30 days.