Mainland China has reported a drop in its daily tally of new coronavirus cases, reversing four straight days of increases, as the capital, Beijing, ramped up measures to contain the number of infections arriving from abroad.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
China had 39 new confirmed cases on Sunday, the National Health Commission said, down from 46 a day earlier. All the new ones 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 as a result of the measure would have to leave China, an immigration official said at the health commission's daily briefing, adding that foreign visitors should "think carefully" before choosing Beijing as a transit point.
Beijing reported 10 new imported cases, the National Health Commission said, down from 13 a day earlier. City authorities said cases came from Spain, Britain, France, the United States and Pakistan. Infections from abroad in Beijing hit an all-time daily high of 21 on March 18.
Shanghai and Guangzhou have also said all arriving international passengers will be tested to screen for the coronavirus, expanding a programme that previously only applied to those coming from heavily affected countries.
The coastal province of Zhejiang, near Shanghai, will also put all arrivals from overseas in centralised quarantine facilities for 14 days, media reported. Zhejiang on Monday lowered its emergency response level from 2 to 3, the lowest level, reflecting easing concern about the virus' spread.
Shanghai, which reported 10 new cases on Sunday, down from a record 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 case, bringing the total number of imported cases in China to 314.
In Wuhan, the epicentre of the outbreak, authorities have eased tough lockdown measures as the city saw no new infections for the fifth day.
Downtown Wuhan remains the only high-risk area in Hubei province, with other cities and counties classified as low-risk.
Wuhan went into a virtual lockdown on January 23 to contain the spread of the virus.
As of Sunday, the total number of cases in mainland China stood at 81,093. The death toll rose to 3270, up nine from the previous day.
Australian Associated Press
