Xi visits Wuhan as number of new cases drops

Moral support: Xi speaking next to a slogan that says: ‘Race against time. Fight the virus’. — AP

BEIJING: Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Wuhan, the epicentre of the Covid-19 outbreak, the first time he has done so since the epidemic began and a sign that Beijing believes its efforts to control the virus are working.

His arrival yesterday in the city, where the virus is believed to have first taken hold late last year, comes after its spread in mainland China has sharply slowed in the past week and as attention has turned to preventing imported infections from overseas hot spots such as Iran, Italy and South Korea.