Xi Jinping appears in public for first time after Coronavirus outbreak
More than a month after the Coronavirus outbreak in China, President Xi Jinping made his first appearance in public as he visited a community health center in Beijing on Monday. He expressed thanks to the health workers on behalf of the Communist Party and government. Xi's appearance came as many people returned to work following the lunar new year holiday.
Assuring health workers and the public, the president said, "We will most definitely win this people’s war." He also had his temperature checked by a woman at the health center.
With a mask and surgical gloves, Xi also visited a local government office in Beijing and addressed the health workers through video conferencing in Wuhan, which is the epicenter of the Novel Coronavirus.
It was Xi Jinping’s first public appearance since meeting the Cambodian prime minister last week.
The death toll from the outbreak rose to 909 with 98 new fatalities reported on Sunday, mostly in the worst-affected Hubei province. The confirmed cases of infection spiralled to 40,235, Chinese health officials said.
Xi, who mostly remained indoors while his No 2 Premier Li Keqiang, and other senior Communist Party officials toured affected areas including virus-hit Wuhan, on Monday, went on an inspection of the epidemic prevention and control work in Beijing.
The coronavirus outbreak infected 27 foreign nationals in China and two of them have died, Chinese Foreign Ministry said on Monday.
A team of international experts led by the World Health Organisation (WHO) arrived in China on Monday to assist the Chinese health officials in containing the coronavirus outbreak.
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