UPDATED, April 28, 7:30 a.m.
This article was updated at the above time to reflect the most recently available number of confirmed coronavirus cases and global deaths attributed to the disease.

Health officials in China say there are no remaining cases of COVID-19 in hospitals in Wuhan, the Chinese city of 11 million people where the global coronavirus pandemic began.

“The latest news is that by April 26, the number of new coronavirus patients in Wuhan was at zero, thanks to the joint efforts of Wuhan and medical staff from around the country,” National Health Commission spokesman Mi Feng said at a briefing that Reuters reported.

Theories abound about just how the novel coronavirus started. A commonly believed narrative is that the disease originated in a market in Wuhan. After reportedly emerging there in December, the virus swept across the globe, infecting more than 3 million people and reportedly killing more than 212,000 as of the morning of April 28.

Some national leaders and U.S. intelligence agencies have accused China of allegedly underreporting the extent of coronavirus spread and deaths in the country. Officially, China had reported more than 84,000 confirmed cases and more than 4,600 deaths as of April 28. Nearly 85% of the deaths occurred in Wuhan.

As Wuhan reportedly sees its hospitals empty of COVID-19 cases, there have been what some analysts have characterized as other positive developments in the world’s battle against the coronavirus.

We are taking a regional approach to safely reopening NYS.

Each region is facing its own set of facts.

Protecting public health comes first and all decisions will be data-driven.

— Andrew Cuomo (@NYGovCuomo) April 27, 2020

New York has been the hardest hit U.S. state with the most coronavirus cases and deaths. While Gov. Andrew Cuomo said April 27 that stay-at-home orders could be extended in some parts of the Empire State, he also discussed plans for a phased reopening of New York as daily death counts and new confirmed cases of COVID-19 decline.

“There is no doubt that, at this point, we’ve gone through the worst,” Cuomo said in an April 26 press briefing. “And as long as we act prudently going forward, the worst should be over.”

In Europe, Italy has sustained the highest death toll from the coronavirus. Still, conditions in the southern European country have improved enough for Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte to begin outlining plans for reopening the nation, which has been in lockdown for seven weeks.

Still, health officials cautioned against letting guards down on COVID-19. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the World Health Organization, said the pandemic “is far from over.”