Wuhan, the epicenter of China's novel coronavirus outbreak, had no new infections on Wednesday and Thursday. Indeed, except for 34 imported cases, the entire country saw no increase in the number of infections. A new dawn has arrived after the long, dark night of the epidemic.

At this moment, we should thank all the medical workers who battled on the front line in the fight against the outbreak in the city. No wonder President Xi Jinping said that they deserved the nation's top award when he visited the city on March 10.

Now when more than 42,000 medical workers from around the country who rushed to assist their colleagues in the city are gradually taking their leave of Wuhan, local residents are shouting "thank you" from their windows, and those who happen to see the buses carrying them to the airport are bowing to them to show their gratitude.

Local residents have hardly been able to hold their tears seeing off these medical workers whom they call their "white angels". And many people nationwide have shed a tear or two when watching the video clips of how local medical workers and their counterparts from other parts of the country hug each other when saying goodbye.

Had it not been for the medical workers from all parts of the country who rushed to the rescue of Wuhan and Hubei province, no one knows how many more people would have died. But if not for the combined efforts of the medical staff in the province and those who came to help them, it would certainly have been more than the 3,130 deaths reported for the province as of noon on Thursday, with 2,496 of them in Wuhan.

Without the lockdown of the province, the country's medical system would likely have been overwhelmed. By containing the virus in the province and concentrating the nation's medical resources to provide expanded care by means of makeshift hospitals in Wuhan and intensified treatment in the city's hospitals for those requiring critical care, the rest of the country has been spared a nightmare scenario.

It is because these selfless heroes were willing to do their best where they were most needed, knowing it might cost them their lives that the rest of the country has been spared the trauma endured by Wuhan. In doing so they saved the lives of many others who would have died without their dedicated efforts.
Separated from their loved ones, they worked long and difficult hours, and suffered both physically and psychologically. They should be proud of what they have done. And we should all be grateful for their selfless fight on our behalf. The country is beholden to them.