Shenzhen confirmed another imported COVID-19 case Sunday, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the city to 423, according to the figures released by the Shenzhen Municipal Health Commission yesterday.
The patient, surnamed Liu, is a 31-year-old male of Chinese nationality who left Shenzhen for the Philippines for work purposes in September 2019. Previously, he had lived in Longgang District. He was sent to a hospital directly from Shenzhen Bay Checkpoint and was later confirmed infected. Preliminary tracing results show that no persons on the Chinese mainland have had close contact with the patient.
The mainland reported 16 new confirmed cases Sunday, 12 of which are from abroad, according to the National Health Commission. By end of Sunday, a total 123 imported cases had been reported in the mainland.
As an increasing number of inbound travelers to China have been confirmed infected with COVID-19, many regions on the Chinese mainland are taking tough measures to avert secondary spread of the virus from imported cases, the China Daily reported.
Starting yesterday, all passengers arriving at Beijing from overseas will undergo a 14-day quarantine at designated facilities equipped with health-care services, Chen Bei, deputy secretary-general of the Beijing Municipal Government, said at a news conference Sunday.
For strengthened containment, Beijing Capital International Airport has established a special zone for travelers from countries and regions hit hard by the virus.
Located in the Beijing airport’s Terminal 3, the D-zone will facilitate services for infected and suspected infected travelers as well as the required procedures for all passengers including health examinations, identification checks and transfers.
Residents of Beijing are advised not to travel to countries or regions with outbreaks, said Pang Xinghuo, deputy director of Beijing Center for Diseases Prevention and Control.
In neighboring Hebei Province, many cities demanded that inbound travelers from abroad report their health condition, recent travel history and any contact with possible COVID-19 patients.
“If inbound travelers deliberately conceal relevant information or refuse to abide by epidemic prevention and control policies, they will bear all expenses for quarantine and treatment if found infected with the virus,” the Tangshan Prevention and Control Work Group Office said.
They will also bear legal responsibility if their concealment of information causes the virus to spread or leads to related risks, the notice said.
People who do not truthfully report their infectious diseases or who falsify their health statement cards upon entering the country will be considered a disturbance to border health and quarantine in accordance with Chinese criminal law, according to the China Daily.
This offense was clarified in a guideline jointly released yesterday by five authorities, namely the Supreme People’s Court, the Supreme People’s Procuratorate, the Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry of Justice and the Central Administration of Customs.
Besides faking health information, the guideline also specifies several other acts that should be considered disturbing border health and quarantine in line with Criminal Law.
For example, those who refuse health checks or quarantine orders from customs and people responsible for exit-entry public transport in a region or country where an infectious disease is rampant but who intentionally hide non-accidental deaths will face a similar criminal charge.
Under the law, health and quarantine disturbances will be given a maximum sentence of three years in prison or detention as well as fines if their behaviors cause COVID-19 to spread.