China’s president arrived in the country’s central Wuhan city on Tuesday morning, his first visit since the city shot to global infamy last December as the epicenter of the new coronavirus outbreak.
According to China’s state-run Xinhua News Agency, President Xi Jinping will inspect medical facilities and prevention measures implemented in Wuhan and other regions of the Hubei province.
He will also meet medical workers, military officers, and soldiers who have been on the forefront of Hubei and Wuhan’s fight to control the outbreak.
Authorities in Wuhan are also expected to shut down on Tuesday the last two of the 16 temporary hospitals set up for coronavirus patients.
China has been the worst-hit country in the world and has reported over 3,100 deaths due to COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus.
It has nearly 81,000 confirmed cases since last December, with over 4,700 in serious condition at the moment. Nearly 17,000 people are also under observation in hospitals.
The rate of transmission, however, has fallen over recent weeks.
On Tuesday, China’s National Health Commission said only 19 new cases were reported in the country over the past 24 hours.