While the outbreak was apparently brought under control even in the particularly severely affected city of Wuhan, "imported cases" threaten new adversity. President Xi Jinping warns of further "challenges".
Beijing (dpa) - For the first time since the outbreak of the novel corona virus in early January, China has reported no new local infections nationwide.
However, the number of infected people who came back to the People's Republic from abroad rose - which fuels fears of a possible second wave of spread.
According to the Beijing Health Commission, 34 new "imported cases" were registered, that is, diseases that were detected in people entering China. It was the highest increase in the number of sick people who had entered from abroad.
For the most part, these returnees are not foreigners, but Chinese who come back home, among other things, because they assume that the worst has now been overcome. A total of 189 imported cases have been identified to date, the Commission said.
In order to prevent the spread of the introduced cases as far as possible, strict quarantine measures apply to people arriving from abroad.
Chinese President Xi Jinping warned Wednesday that virus control and economic development remain a "challenge" against the background of the worsening global outbreak. At a meeting of the Politburo Standing Committee, the head of state urged people to remain vigilant and to make "tireless efforts" to prevent and fight the epidemic.
The meeting also called for "determined efforts" to continue to protect Hubei Province and its capital, Wuhan, where the virus originally broke out. Prevention and control in key regions such as Beijing must also be strengthened. With China's economy facing increasing downward pressure, party committees and governments at all levels are said to "maintain social order" and promote economic development.
Similar to the Chinese mainland, there were fears in the Chinese special administrative region of Hong Kong that the virus could spread through returnees. The financial metropolis has also tightened its quarantine regulations since Thursday.
Despite the relatively small number of new infections, China still complains of new deaths every day. Eight more people died on Thursday, bringing the total number of victims to 3,245. A total of 80,928 infected people were registered in mainland China, more than 66,000 of whom have recovered. So far, 192 people infected and four dead have been registered in Hong Kong.