China on Thursday announced a temporary ban on entry of foreigners holding valid visas or residence permits and drastically cut international flights in a bid to prevent a second wave of infections amid a surge in the number of imported cases in the country.
China’s National Health Commission (NHC) said while no newdomestically transmitted case of coronavirus was reported on the mainland onWednesday, 67 new imported cases were recorded, up from 47 a day earlier.
China on one hand is easing curbs in its virus epicentre,Wuhan and on the other it is ramping up measures to stop imported cases,especially its nationals arriving back home from place like Italy which is oneof the worst affect countries in Europe.
China has announced temporary suspension of entry by foreignnationals holding valid Chinese visas or residence permits, state-run Xinhuanews agency reported.
In view of the rapid spread of COVID-19 across the world,China has decided to temporarily suspend the entry into China by foreignnationals holding visas or residence permits still valid to the time of thisannouncement, effective from 0:00 a.M. On March 28, 2020, a statement jointlyreleased by Chinese Foreign Ministry and the National ImmigrationAdministration said.
Also, although Hubei province and its capital Wuhan havebeen reporting zero cases for a while, death toll there continued to rise.
Earlier, China’s civil aviation regulator issued a circularon Thursday to further cut international flights as part of efforts to stem theinflow of novel COVID-19 cases.
All domestic airlines were allowed to operate only oneflight to each country per week, while foreign aviation companies should keeponly one air route to China and there should be no more than one flight everyweek for each of the air route to China, the Civil Aviation Administration ofChina (CAAC) said in a circular that will be effective from March 29.Stricter measures will also be taken to curb thespread of the virus on flights arriving or leaving the country and ensure thatpassenger load factor is lower than 75 per cent, the CAAC said, adding that itmight further slash international flights if necessary.