China sees drop in new COVID-19 cases; all new cases imported
23 March, 2020
Mainland China on Monday (Mar 23) reported a drop in its daily tally of new coronavirus cases, reversing four straight days of increases, as the administrative centre, Beijing, ramped up measures to support the number of infections arriving from abroad.
China had 39 new confirmed cases on Sunday, the National Health Commission said, down from 46 a day earlier. All the new kinds involved travellers arriving from abroad, many of them Chinese students returning home.
Beijing stepped up measures to contain imported infections, diverting all arriving international flights from Monday to other cities, including Shanghai and as far west as Xian, where passengers will undergo virus screening.
Foreigners who miss international connections therefore of the measure would have to leave China, an immigration official said at medical commission's daily briefing, adding that foreign visitors should "be cautious" before choosing Beijing as a transit point.
Beijing reported 10 new imported cases, the National Health Commission said, down from 13 a day earlier. Infections from abroad in metropolis hit an all-time daily most of 21 on Mar 18.
Shanghai and Guangzhou also have said all arriving international passengers will be tested to screen for the coronavirus, expanding a programme that previously only applied to those via heavily affected countries.
The coastal province of Zhejiang, near Shanghai, may also put all arrivals from overseas in centralised quarantine facilities for two weeks, media reported. Zhejiang on Monday lowered its emergency response level from 2-3 3, the cheapest level, reflecting easing concern about the spread of the virus.
Shanghai, which reported 10 new cases on Sunday, down from an archive 14 a day earlier, lowered its emergency response level to level 2 from level 1.
Guangdong province saw seven new imported infections, Fujian had four and Jiangsu had two. Hebei, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Shandong and Sichuan each saw just one single case, bringing the full total number of imported cases in China to 314.
Mainland China saw no new locally transmitted infections.
The health commission didn't say from where the cases were thought to have already been imported. Beijing authorities reported cases from Spain, Britain, France, the United States and Pakistan.
In Wuhan, capital of central province of Hubei, authorities have eased tough lockdown measures as the epicentre of the outbreak in China saw no new infections for the fifth day.
Downtown Wuhan remains the only high-risk area in the province, with other cities and counties classified as low-risk.
Wuhan went into a virtual lockdown on Jan 23 to support the spread of the virus to the others of China.
According to authorities on Sunday, people can enter the city if they're certified healthy and have no fever.
Hubei residents who are in Wuhan can connect with leave the city, nonetheless they must be tested for the virus.
There's been no indication that Wuhan residents can leave metropolis for non-essential reasons.
As of Sunday, the full total number of cases in mainland China stood at 81,093. The death toll rose to 3,270, up by nine from the prior day.
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