China's imported coronavirus cases jump as students, expats flock home
A police officer in a protective suit keeps watch on inbound travellers at Shanghai Pudong International Airport following a global outbreak of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Shanghai, China March 20, 2020. cnsphoto via REUTERS
China reported a record rise in imported coronavirus cases on Friday as expatriates returned home from the United States and Europe, sparking fears of a second wave of infections just as the country recovers from the initial outbreak.
All 41 of the new confirmed cases in China were imported from abroad, the country's National Health Commission said on Saturday, bringing the total number of such cases to 269.
Migrant workers, wearing face masks to prevent the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), arrive via a charter train from Jingzhou, Hubei province at Guangzhou South Railway Station in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, China March 19, 2020. China Daily via REUTERS
Beijing and Shanghai were the main entry points for the returnees, many of whom are students who were studying abroad, according to official reports. They have come back after many campuses in the United States and Europe shut down to stem rapidly rising infection rates there.
Also returning in a flight to safety were China-based expats, as businesses begin to reopen.
The pivot to stemming imported cases has led to a tightening of quarantine restrictions in the country.
People wearing protective face masks are seen at the Happy Valley amusement park on its first day of opening following the outbreak of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Shanghai, China March 20, 2020. REUTERS/Aly Song
Guangdong's health commission said on Saturday travellers who enter Guangdong province from abroad will be subject to a 14-day quarantine on arrival either in personal residences or at a centralised quarantine centre at the expense of the traveller.
The total number of confirmed cases in mainland China stood at 81,008 at the end of Friday, the health authority said. The death toll was 3,255, up by seven, a much slower rate than at the height of the crisis.
The lack of locally transmitted cases for the third day running underscored a recovery that has prompted officials to relax restrictions, even in the virus epicentre of Wuhan, which was responsible for all seven new deaths.
People wearing protective face masks are seen at the Happy Valley amusement park on its first day of opening following the outbreak of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Shanghai, China March 20, 2020. REUTERS/Aly Song
City officials said last week that residents could walk around their compounds, loosening restrictions that had kept them to their personal living areas.
On Saturday, the official Xinhua news agency said commercial outlets in residential communities and villages without existing cases of virus can resume business, citing the municipal bureau of commerce.
As well as Beijing and Shanghai, the major transport hub of Shenzhen, near Hong Kong, has facilitated infected returnees. The southern provinces of Guangdong, Fujian, and the eastern provinces of Shandong and Zhejiang, as well as Shaanxi and Sichuan have also all reported cases.
People wearing protective face masks are seen at the Happy Valley amusement park on its first day of opening following the outbreak of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Shanghai, China March 20, 2020. REUTERS/Aly Song
(Reporting by Engen Tham in Shanghai and Yilei Sun in Beijing; Editing by Daniel Wallis, Leslie Adler and Jane Wardell)
People wear protective face masks, following an outbreak of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), at Lujiazui financial district in Shanghai, China March 19, 2020. REUTERS/Aly SongPeople wear protective face masks, following an outbreak of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), at Lujiazui financial district in Shanghai, China March 19, 2020. REUTERS/Aly SongA boy wears a protective face mask at a shopping mall, following an outbreak of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Shanghai, China March 19, 2020. REUTERS/Aly SongPeople wear protective face masks, following an outbreak of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), at Lujiazui financial district in Shanghai, China March 19, 2020. REUTERS/Aly SongA woman wears a protective face mask, following an outbreak of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), at Lujiazui financial district in Shanghai, China March 19, 2020. REUTERS/Aly SongA man wears a protective face mask, following an outbreak of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), at Lujiazui financial district in Shanghai, China March 19, 2020. REUTERS/Aly SongA boy and a girl drive in a toy car, following an outbreak of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Shanghai, China March 19, 2020. REUTERS/Aly SongA worker in protective suit disinfects the Wuhan No. 7 Hospital, once a designated hospital for coronavirus disease (COVID-19) patients, to prepare it for the resumption of its normal service in Wuhan, Hubei province, China March 19, 2020. cnsphoto via REUTERSA local medical worker embraces and bids farewell to a medical worker from Jiangsu at the Wuhan Railway Station as the medical team from Jiangsu leaves Wuhan, the epicentre of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Hubei province, China March 19, 2020. China Daily via REUTERS
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