Coronavirus: Imported cases in China outnumber domestic transmissions for fifth day running

Country now facing greater threat of new infections from outside its borders, latest figures suggest

Imported cases of coronavirus in China has outnumbered domestic transmissions for a fifth day running.

Thanks to a series of unprecedented quarantine measures that brought the country to standstill, the central government appears to have succeeded in containing the spread of the pathogen for now.

Mainland China had 13 new confirmed cases of coronavirus infections on Tuesday, according to the National Health Commission’s latest figures. Of these, 12 involved infected travellers arriving from abroad.

Meanwhile, new cases in the Hubei province, where the coronavirus is thought to have originated, have been in the single digits for the past seven days, according to the World Health Organisation, down from a peak of several thousand per day in early February.

The draconian measures that helped to quell the outbreak domestically – such as intensive social distancing, travel restrictions and widespread quarantines – are gradually being relaxed, but this has raised concerns of the virus being brought back into the country by visitors and travellers.

With thousands of people passing through major Chinese transportation hubs in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen, the risk of imported cases remains high.

Beijing accounted for three of the imported new cases, down from nine a day earlier. The city’s authorities later raised this figure to 11, though this has yet to be confirmed by the National Health Commission. Shanghai had three new cases, unchanged from the day before.

Imported cases in southern Guangdong province rose to five from three, due to people arriving from Thailand, Britain and the Netherlands. One infection emerged in Sichuan in southwest China.

The overall number of imported cases of the virus in mainland China reached 155 as of Tuesday, up 12 from a day earlier.

The figures highlight how the country appears to now face a greater threat of new infections from outside its borders.

Earlier this month, a 30-year old policeman from central China’s Henan province flew back to Beijing after a week-long trip to Italy before returning by train to the provincial capital of Zhengzhou.

He was not diagnosed until 11 March, after he had returned to work for several days. At least 11 cities in China have tracked down locals who were exposed to him during his journey.

Despite progress made throughout the country in fighting the outbreak, Wuhan continues remains designated as “high-risk” and subject to strict travel bans.

In a worrying sign of continued local transmissions despite strict quarantine measures that have lasted for nearly month, the city has reported new infections through outpatient diagnosis for a fifth straight day.

“The new infected patients and their family members have gone out and about in their local community during this period of staying at home, which does not exclude the possibility of community infection,” the Wuhan coronavirus task force said in a text message sent to some residents late on Tuesday.

The death toll from the outbreak in mainland China had reached 3,237 as of the end of Tuesday, up by 11 from the previous day.

In Hubei, there were 11 new deaths, with Wuhan accounting for 10 of the fatalities.

Additional reporting by Reuters