Coronavirus pandemic 'could be over by June' if countries act, says Chinese adviser

Office workers face masks outside an office complex in Beijing as the country is hit by an outbreak of the novel coronavirus, China, March 11, 2020. REUTERS/Thomas Peter

BEIJING (Reuters) - The global coronavirus pandemic could be over by June if countries mobilise to fight it, a senior Chinese medical adviser said on Thursday, as China declared the peak had passed there and new cases in Hubei fell to single digits for the first time.

Around two-thirds of global cases of the coronavirus have been recorded in China's central Hubei province, where the virus first emerged in December. But in recent weeks the vast majority of new cases have been outside China.