Mainland China reported no COVID-19 deaths for the first time since the pandemic began and a drop in new cases on Tuesday, a day before the central city of Wuhan, where the virus emerged late in December, was set to lift its lockdown.
China had reported 32 new infections on Monday, down from 39 a day earlier, according to the National Health Commission .
For the first time since the Commission began publishing nationwide data in late January, Wuhan saw no new deaths.
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Wuhan, a city of 11 million that reported only two new infections in the past fortnight, is due to allow residents to leave the city on Wednesday for the first time since it was locked down on January 23 to curb the spread of the virus.
From midnight, traffic control checkpoints in Wuhan will be dismantled, and normal operation of railways, airports, waterways, highways and buses will resume.
But zero new cases do not mean zero risks, the provincial counter-epidemic authority said in a statement.
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Wuhan residents are urged not to leave their neighbourhood, their city and even the province unless necessary.
Zhejiang, a populous province in the east, will conduct all the necessary tests on people arriving from Wuhan over the next 14 days.