Coronavirus pandemic: China reports 46 new cases including 1 local breaking 3-day streak of no domestic cases
On Sunday, China reported 46 new confirmed cases of the novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) -- the fourth straight day with an increase. With the exception of one, all cases were imported from overseas, according to the country’s National Health Commission. The report of a domestic confirmed case breaks the country's three-day-streak of no new domestic cases. The country has observed a steady rise in imported cases, mostly from citizens returning from abroad.
The previous day, China reported 41 new coronavirus cases, all of them imported. Among the new cases from abroad, a record 14 were in the financial hub of Shanghai and 13 were in the capital Beijing, a decline from 21 the previous day. The latest figures bring China’s total reported coronavirus cases to 81,054, with 3,261 deaths, including six on Saturday.
Meanwhile, facing a sharp increase in COVID-19 cases from abroad, China will take strict measures to prevent imported cases, NHC spokesman Mi Feng told media on Saturday. Beijing and Shanghai were the main entry points for the returnees, many of whom are students studying abroad. They have come back after many campuses in the United States and Europe shut down to stem rapidly rising infection rates there.
The central province of Hubei, where the outbreak first emerged late last year in its capital city of Wuhan, reported its fourth straight day of no new cases.
The new locally-transmitted case was in the southern metropolis of Guangzhou and was also the first known case where the infection of a local person was linked to the arrival of someone from overseas, according to Guangdong province. Guangdong has reported a total of 1,407 confirmed cases so far, including 56 imported ones, and eight deaths.
Globally, more than 300,000 people have been infected with the virus, and more than 13,000 have died. The number of deaths in Italy surpassed the number in China earlier this week. On Saturday, Italy reported its highest daily death toll yet when 793 people died due to the virus. China's death toll stands at 3,261 while Italy's death toll stands at 4,825.
China has used draconian measures to contain the spread of the virus, including locking down Hubei province and more recently stepping up measures to screen and quarantine overseas arrivals.
The country is trying to restart an economy that is widely expected to contract deeply in the current quarter, with life slowly returning to normal in cities such as Beijing and Shanghai, albeit with everyone wearing masks in public. Still, numerous shops and restaurants remain shut – many have gone out of business – and factories and other workplaces are still not operating at full capacity.
China’s aviation regulator said on Sunday that all international flights due to arrive in Beijing would be diverted to other airports as their first port of entry beginning on Monday. The flights will be diverted to 12 designated airports where the passengers will be screened. Passengers who are cleared would then be permitted to reboard the plane, which would take them on to Beijing, it said.