Provinces wrestle with imported infections

Qingtian county in Zhejiang province reported seven new cases of novel coronavirus from Italy on Tuesday, bringing the total number of infected patients from abroad in the province to eight.

The infected patients - all overseas Chinese from Qingtian, a county known for its long tradition of local people seeking opportunities abroad - were colleagues at a restaurant in the northern Italian city of Bergamo, where 243 coronavirus cases had been confirmed as of Monday.

Seven of the people, including a 31-year-old female reported to have been infected with the virus on Sunday, flew from Milan, Italy, to China via Moscow, Russia, on Wednesday together and arrived at Shanghai Pudong International Airport the next day. On Friday morning, they took a chartered vehicle to Qingtian and were immediately placed under medical observation.

The other six were confirmed to have the coronavirus on Monday via nucleic acid tests.

Another infected patient from Italy, surnamed Ye, flew to Germany on Friday and transferred to another flight to Shanghai. Ye got to Qingtian on Saturday and tested positive on Monday.

All eight patients are being treated at a hospital in Qingtian.

There are around 330,000 overseas Chinese from Qingtian who live and work in other countries and regions. Since the epidemic broke out in Wuhan, Hubei province in December, they have dedicated themselves to the fight against the virus in various ways, including making donations.

In Europe, the European Union's alert level for the novel coronavirus has been raised from moderate to high, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said at a news conference on Monday. There are more than 2,000 confirmed cases in the EU, with the bulk of them in Italy.

More than 2,000 people have tested positive for the novel coronavirus so far in Italy, with 52 deaths, Italy's Civil Protection Department said on Monday.

As the novel coronavirus is spreading worldwide, more overseas Chinese are heading back home.

Qingtian is imposing strict measures to curb the contagion coming from outside China. The county government organized service teams at airports in Shanghai, Hangzhou and Wenzhou, and arranged vehicles for natives from overseas with the aim of reducing their mobility.

Zhang Weihua, Party chief of Qingtian's overseas Chinese federation, called on all returning Chinese compatriots to follow the guidelines of the local government and receive medical observation and self-quarantine for 14 days before going home.

Aside from Zhejiang, cases from overseas were recently reported in Shenzhen, Beijing and the Ningxia Hui autonomous region.

As of Monday, Guangdong province in South China is requiring all foreigners who have visited countries or regions hit by the coronavirus to be isolated for medical observation for 14 days in designated hotels, or at home when they arrive in the province.

According to a statement released by the Guangdong Health Commission, the move aims to further strengthen health management for foreigners and prevent the novel coronavirus from being imported to the province, which has been a leader in showing positive results of China's reform and opening-up policy.

The Guangdong foreign affairs office is providing the latest news of the epidemic's status, and detailing measures the province has introduced to fight the infection.

The office has also opened a 24-hour hotline in both English and Chinese, which foreigners can use to get answers to questions about the epidemic and the control measures in the province. Major airlines also notified foreign passengers about the measures and regulations in Guangdong.

Guangdong plans to further expand cooperation with foreign counterparts in the fight against the coronavirus, foreign affairs authorities said.

A total of 1,496 foreigners traveling from countries and regions exposed to the virus entered the province via regular entry and exit ports from Thursday to Monday. All tested negative.

As of Monday, people from South Korea can make reservations online to buy protective face masks in Guangzhou, as the Korean language version of the Suikang mini-program has been officially launched.

Koreans can now register with their passport numbers on the Suikang mini-program on WeChat to make reservations to purchase the masks, according to a statement released by Chinese technology giant Tencent.

Koreans will also be given a special health code via the mini-program in Guangzhou after using it to report personal health conditions to the authorities. Koreans with a code will be allowed to enter housing and office complexes after having scanned their health code, the same as Chinese residents.

The Suikang mini-program is operated by the Guangzhou city government, with technical support from Tencent.

It will have English, Japanese and other foreign language versions in the weeks ahead, the statement from Tencent said.

Qin Jirong in Hangzhou contributed to the story.