The People”s Republic of China (PRC) ANNOUNCED NO new COVID-19 cases particularly in the Hubei, the initial epicenter of the outbreak of the new corona virus. The China National Health Commission says there had been just 34 new cases in the past 24 hours–all imported from overseas– and 8 new deaths all in Hubei, the province which the initial cases were reported. This shows that the contagion is slowing down, and efforts are proving to be successful since China initially enacted what Westerners’ describe as “draconian quarantine measures” and strict travel restrictions affecting hundreds of millions of citizens.

In hard-hit areas, state forces prevented citizens from leaving their homes, while transportation services slowed down even to a halt. This decision had put the Chinese economy to a bad state, although the Chinese government had refused to say how much would this hit their economy this year.

Several of China’s manufacturing sector have resumed operations. New economic data released last Monday showed retail sales plummeting to 20.5%, while industrial output fell 13.5% and fixed asset investment plunged 24.5%.

As of Thursday afternoon, the virus had infected more than 218,800 people worldwide, according to Johns Hopkins University, which is tracking cases reported by the World Health Organization and additional sources.