Good News Worth Sharing: China Has Reported No New Covid-19 Deaths For The First Time Since January

China has reported no new deaths because of coronavirus (Covid-19) today, for the first time since it began publishing daily figures in January. It comes after the number of new cases also decreased this week, with only 32 reported this morning compared to 39 on Monday.

The National Health Commission confirmed the news this morning, stating that of 81,740 confirmed as infected, 3,331 people have died. They also noted that the 32 new confirmed cases had all arrived from overseas.

The slowdown in confirmed cases and stop to Covid-19 deaths has been considered a sign of hope for China and the rest of the world. While there has been debate around whether the figures are accurate – with some accusing the government of underreporting – BBC’s China correspondent Stephen McDonnell said ‘in a way it doesn’t matter if the figure is real [because] the trend matches reality in so many ways’.

In Wuhan, China – where the virus was first reported – people are set to leave the city for the first time since lockdown began in January. Using a smartphone health app to provide personal health assessments, those with a ‘green’ code on the app will be allowed to leave, according to officials.

There are also ‘epidemic-free’ residential compounds where people have been allowed to leave their homes for two hours, although some of these have had that status revoked after it was revealed you can carry the virus and be asymptomatic – a note they began reporting at the start of this month.

Along with Crystal Reid’s report for Grazia from Shanghai this week – which noted that the lockdown in China can actually provide optimism for the rest of the world – it seems that these new statistics, whether absolutely accurate or not, are a cause for some celebration. Or at the very least, hope.

In response to an overwhelming news cycle, Grazia will collate good news stories from all corners of the internet to give our readers (and ourselves!) a break from the constant barrage of worrying news.

We can’t hide from what’s happening, in fact we’ll still be covering the news on site and social and staying informed about the latest developments, but our Good News Worth Sharing series will be a safe haven and a place to spread some positivity.

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