Coronavirus outbreak: China's president praises Wuhan medical workers

China's president on Tuesday visited city of Wuhan, centre of coronavirus outbreak, telling officials and medical workers that despite periodical success in fighting epidemic, it is t time to relax yet.

Xi Jinping's trip - his first since start of outbreak - came as parts of his country returned to rmalcy, and was a sign of diminishing threat illness presents in China as it spres west.

During visit, Xi me a stop at an emergency response hospital where he met with medical workers and talked to a patient through video communication.

Xi also visited Wuhan residents under quarantine at home and chatted with local officials, community workers and volunteers.

visit came as country recorded just 19 new cases of virus on Tuesday.

For most people, new coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough.

For some, especially older ults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia.

vast majority of people recover from new virus. According to World  Health Organization, people with mild illness recover in about two weeks, while those with more severe illness may take three to six weeks to recover. In mainland China, more than 80,000 people have been diagsed and more than 58,000 have so far recovered