Xi Jinping visits coronavirus epicenter Wuhan for the first time

Beijing : Chinese President Xi Jinping made an official visit to coronavirus epicenter Wuhan city, claiming victory over the COVID-19.

He paid a visit with a mask on and a team of military and health officials. Earlier, he was criticized for not taking swift actions against the coronavirus in December, but later he received praise for his follow-up actions.

According to a local news agency in China, 66-year-old Xi vowed to resolutely fight for a victory in the war against the coronavirus during his inspection tour of Wuhan.

During his visit, Xi claimed that the spread of virus in Hubei province has been controlled. Hubei's capital Wuhan accommodates around 50 million people and they have been living in complete isolation since January.

Ahead of the President's visit on Tuesday, China's National Health Commission (NHC) announced a dramatic drop in number of COVID-19 cases both of which fell below 20 mark for the first time since the NHC began daily reporting of cases in later part of January.

The NHC reported 19 new confirmed cases of infection and 17 fatalities on Monday. All the 17 new deaths were in Hubei province and in Wuhan, while Beijing and other cities geared up for "imported cases" with the return of large number of Chinese and foreigners to re-join work.

The overall confirmed cases in the Chinese mainland have reached 80,754 by the end of Monday. This included 3,136 people who died of the disease. 17,721 patients are still undergoing treatment while 59,897 patients have been discharged after recovery, the NHC said.