Coronavirus cases drop, 114 more die

BEIJING: China reported a big drop in new coronavirus cases on Thursday, fuelling hopes the epidemic is nearing its peak, but Japan faced a growing crisis as two passengers from a quarantined cruise ship died.

Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump expressed confidence that China is "trying very hard" in its handling of the coronavirus outbreak, he said in a television interview.

"Well, I am confident that they are trying very hard," Trump said in an interview with Fox 10 Phoenix. "I think the numbers are going to get progressively better as we go along."

The death toll in China hit 2,118 as 114 more people died, but health officials reported the lowest number of new cases there in nearly a month, including in the hardest-hit province, Hubei.

More than 74,000 people have been infected in China and hundreds more in some 25 countries, with Iran reporting two deaths, the first fatalities in the Middle East. In Japan, a man and a woman in their 80s who had been aboard the Diamond Princess have died, local media reported, citing a government source.

A World Health Organisation official noted the progress in China but warned it had not reached a turning point just yet.

Chinese officials said this week that their drastic containment efforts, including quarantining tens of millions of people in Hubei and restricting movements in other cities nationwide, have started to pay off.

"After arduous efforts, the situation is changing for the better," Foreign Minister Wang Yi said at a meeting with Southeast Asian counterparts in Laos late on Wednesday, according to the official Xinhua news agency.

Hubei and its capital Wuhan — where the virus is believed to have emerged in December — are still "severely affected" by the epidemic, Wang said.

"But the situation is under effective control, while other regions are embracing comforting news," he said.

More than 600 new infections were reported in Wuhan — the lowest daily tally since late January, and well down from the 1,749 new cases the day before. The national figure has now fallen for three days in a row.