China Tightens Screening of Arriving Passengers, Fearing Reinfection

By Jesse Sokolow on 27 February 2020
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China is taking action to avoid allowing travelers with Covid-19 into the country, as a result of the spread of the virus in more countries across the globe.

Chinese officials in multiple cities are instituting strict screenings for those entering China. Travelers arriving from countries where there is a major outbreak of the coronavirus may even be quarantined as a precaution.

The move comes as health officials in China are reporting relatively fewer new cases of the coronavirus in recent days. It also follows the strong protests by the Beijing government against those countries which were imposing similar restrictions on travelers from China, citing World Health Organization officials who said that such measures could have the opposite effect.

Beijing’s municipal government said it is imposing a 14-day quarantine for any foreigners arriving from or with a recent travel history to countries and regions where there are significant outbreaks of the disease.

“The coronavirus epidemic is spreading overseas, and there’s a high degree of concern in society,” said Gao Xiaojun, the spokesman for the city’s municipal health authority, at a news briefing Wednesday.  “Beijing municipality is comprehensively strengthening immigration health controls to strictly guard against risks of the epidemic being imported.”

(Photo: Accura Media Group)

Accura News