Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, on Tuesday arrived in Wuhan, Hubei Province, the epicenter of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, to inspect prevention and control work.
It’s the first time the Chinese leader has visited the city since the outbreak began in January.
After arriving in Wuhan, the president went to Huoshenshan Hospital and learned about its operations, treatment of patients, protection for medical workers and scientific research.
He will meet patients, frontline medics, local officials, community workers, police as well as volunteers during his inspection. He will also visit a residential community.
It’s not immediately known how long the visit will last.
The number of new infections in China has continued to drop, with 19 cases reported on Monday. As of Monday evening, the virus has infected 80,924 people across China, most of them in Hubei.
Since January 7, Xi has chaired seven meetings of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and one Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee meeting. The meetings focused on epidemic control and measures to resume work and production.
Under Xi’s leadership, the central government formed a central leading group on responding to the COVID-19 outbreak led by Premier Li Keqiang, and Vice Premier Sun Chunlan, who went to Wuhan to lead and guide the epidemic control work in Hubei Province on January 28.
Under his instruction, the Central Military Commission sent over 4,000 military medics to Wuhan to aid fighting the epidemic.
