The only new indigenous case of coronavirus contamination was recorded in Wuhan, central China, where the epidemic began in late 2019, according to the country's health ministry. Of the 20 cases of imported contamination announced on Tuesday, nine were found in Beijing and three in Shanghai. China has now counted 143 imported cases. The death toll has also increased with thirteen deaths in the past 24 hours, bringing the total to 3,226.
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The country now fears a return of the Covid-19 via visitors from abroad. The city of Beijing thus began to place on Monday arrivals from abroad in compulsory quarantine for 14 days in hotels provided for this purpose. Exceptions are made for minors, pregnant women, or people living alone, who are allowed to stay homebound.
Over 175,500 cases of contamination worldwide
Wuhan and its province, Hubei, were placed in quarantine at the end of January, with more than 50 million inhabitants cut off from the world. After counting more than a thousand new daily infections in February, China said last week that it had "practically stopped" the virus.
The disease is now less widespread in its Chinese cradle than in the rest of the world: the global total of deaths has exceeded 7,000 and 145 countries have been affected, bringing the toll of contamination to more than 175,500 cases.