China reports no new coronavirus cases after two-month ordeal

PanARMENIAN.Net - The Chinese province at the center of the coronavirus outbreak reported no new infections for the first time since the pathogen emerged more than two months ago, Bloomberg reports.

The development marks a turning point in an epidemic that’s infected almost 81,000 Chinese and threatens to push the world’s second-largest economy into its first quarterly contraction in decades.

However, the virus is accelerating its spread worldwide, which is now facing another concern as imported cases continue to add to the country’s tally of infections.

The National Health Commission, in particular, reported 34 new cases for March 18, all of them patients who brought the disease from other countries.

Globally, the coronavirus has sickened over 211,000 and killed 8,700. The outbreak has accelerated in the rest of the world, cutting a particularly deadly swathe in countries like Italy. Entire countries are closing their borders, canceling schools and shutting restaurants. Music festivals and sports events have been postpones, while travel and supply chains are disrupted. Economists see $2.7 trillion being wiped from the world’s gross domestic product.