Expert: Wuhan hopefully reports no new COVID-19 cases at end of March

Medical staff check a patient's condition at a temporary hospital called the Wuhan Livingroom in Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province, February 10, 2020. /Xinhua

Central China's Wuhan, the epicenter of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, is expected to report no new cases by the end of March, said Zhang Boli, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, during an interview with People's Daily on Tuesday.

The judgement is based on the overall trend of the outbreak and so not absolute, said Zhang, adding that there might be a few new cases occasionally.