China has announced a drop in new cases from the coronavirus outbreak for a third consecutive day.
On Sunday, authorities reported 2,009 new cases and 142 more deaths nationwide.
New cases spiked earlier in the week after a change in the way they were counted but have been falling ever since.
In total, more than 68,000 people have been infected in China, with the death toll standing at 1,665.
Outside of China, there have been more than 500 cases in nearly 30 countries. Four people have died – in France, Hong Kong, the Philippines and Japan.
The measures China has taken to stop the spread of the coronavirus are starting to have an impact, Mi Feng, a spokesman at the National Health Commission, said on Sunday.
In other developments:
- The number of people who have tested positive on the Diamond Princess cruise ship, which is being held in quarantine in Japan, has risen to 355. The US and Canada are sending planes to evacuate their citizens
- A Chinese tourist has died in France – the first fatality outside Asia
- An 83-year-old American woman has tested positive after disembarking another cruise ship that was turned away by a number of countries before being allowed to dock in Cambodia
- In the UK, all but one of nine people being treated have been discharged from hospital
On Saturday, World Health Organization (WHO) head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus praised Beijing’ response to the outbreak.
“China has bought the world time. We don’t know how much time,” he said. “We’re encouraged that outside China, we have not yet seen widespread community transmission.”
