The number of new cases in China has dropped for a second straight day in a viral outbreak that has infected about 45,000 people and killed more than 1,100.
While most of the infections have been in China, it has gradually rippled overseas.
Thirty-nine new cases have been confirmed on a cruise ship quarantined in Japan, bringing the total to 174 on the Diamond Princess.
Chinese leader Xi Jinping promised tax cuts and other aid to industry as the government tries to limit growing damage to the economy.
Traffic remained light in Beijing and many people were still working at home.
Meanwhile, Dr. Mike Ryan, the head of emergencies for the World Health Organization, says “it's way too early to try to predict the beginning of the end” of the virus outbreak in China.
Ryan was speaking at a news conference Wednesday at WHO headquarters in Geneva.
He says it is reassuring that the number of daily cases appears to be stabilizing, due mainly to China's huge public health operation, which has placed 60 million people under a lockdown. But he says officials are not going to “speak about numbers or dates, we need to focus on the task” of containing the virus.
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