Imported virus infections 'grave threat' to Shenzhen

Imported infections of novel coronavirus have always been seen as a grave threat to Shenzhen, South China's Guangdong province, bordering Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, since the situation in Shenzhen is being put under control.

All 10 infections that have appeared since Feb 22 in the city are from overseas and most entered the Chinese mainland through Shenzhen Bay.

To prevent the virus from staging a comeback, the HKSAR government tightened its control at customs in February, leaving three of 12 ports with the Chinese mainland open. Among them, Shenzhen Bay is the only direct port entering Shenzhen.

The virus has been raging overseas and became a global pandemic earlier this month, when the epidemic spread in China has been slowing. No new case was reported in Wuhan, the epicenter of the virus in China, on Thursday for the first time.

On Monday, netizens uploaded photos and claimed that a large number of people were at Shenzhen Bay preparing to rush into the city. The "news" went viral online.

However, it turned out to be a rumor. The Shenzhen Bay Port segregates arrivals according to their heath conditions, according to the Shenzhen Customs.

People with a fever or cough and their close contacts will be directly sent to designated hospitals.

Citizens in HKSAR with no history of traveling abroad for the last 14 days and no symptoms will pass through the port directly.

Specialized staff guide people who are from other countries and regions to 11 designated sites at the port.

If the people have accommodations in Shenzhen, and their community will conduct centralized quarantine and nucleic acid testing for them, they will be allowed to remain in their homes. For people living outside the city, the city government will arrange for them to be placed in designated hotels and conduct nucleic acid testing.

Thus, there is no heavy passenger flowing the Shenzhen Bay port by these measures.

Over the past seven days, the number of imported infections accounted for 84.55 percent of the total number of newly-confirmed cases, according to the National Health Commission at a news conference on Wednesday.