China begins withdrawal of medical staff from Wuhan after city records just one new case

China on Tuesday began withdrawal of thousands of doctors and medical staff from Wuhan after the epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak reported just one confirmed case. With mixed feelings of containing the dreaded COVID-19 but sad over deaths of thousands of people, the first batch of medical assistance teams started leaving Hubei province early on Tuesday as the epidemic outbreak in the hard-hit province has been subdued, official media reported.

Over 3,600 medical staffers belonging to 41 medical teams from across China have assisted 14 temporary hospitals and seven designated hospitals in Wuhan, the provincial capital and the epicentre of the outbreak, state-run Xinhua news agency reported. Wuhan reported just one confirmed case of the COVID-19 and 12 deaths on Monday, the provincial health commission said on Tuesday. Wuhan, along with the entire Hubei province with over 50 million people, was kept under total lockdown since January 23 banning all movement of transportation after the deadly virus first emerged in the city in December.