China closes makeshift hospitals as virus cases plunge

A staff member removes waste after the final patients were discharged at a temporary hospital set up to treat people with the Covid-19 in a sports stadium in Wuhan, in China's central Hubei province on March 8, 2020. - AFP

BEIJING (AFP): China has closed most of the makeshift hospitals opened to receive coronavirus patients in the epidemic's epicentre as the number of new infections in the country hit a record low.

There were 40 new cases nationwide, the National Health Commission said Monday (March 9), the lowest number of fresh cases since it started reporting the data in January.