Cities tighten measures against import virus spread
By GT
staff reporters
Several
Chinese cities raised their alert and implemented strict entry measures on
Tuesday, February 25, by asking all foreign visitors to undergo quarantine amid
rising fears of the fast-spreading outbreak of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19)
in Japan and South Korea, aiming to prevent overseas cases of infection.
Such
restrictions, in sharp contrast to the generous help and goodwill offered by
the two neighboring countries at the early stage of the outbreak in Wuhan,
sparked online discussions as some questioned whether it shows China’s selfish
and ingratitude mind-set as fears grow over the spreading virus.
However,
analysts said this is China’s pragmatic, scientific and responsible responses
to the epidemic as the classic quarantine measures the country has adopted
proved to be the only available way that worked out. If the rebound of
infections occurs, the country’s previous progress would end in vain, which
will also drag the global epidemic combat into a deadlock.
Qingdao,
a highly popular destination for South Koreans in East China’s Shandong
Province, is adopting a stricter epidemic prevention policy amid the COVID-19.
It has asked all foreign visitors to either undergo self-quarantine or stay in
designated hotels, as infection numbers in South Korea soared tenfold in less
than a week.
Local
authorities began on Monday, February 24, to assign vehicles to pick up all
foreign visitors arriving in Qingdao and send them to their homes for a 14-day
mandatory quarantine. Foreigners coming for short-term visit or business travel
will be sent to designated hotels, the local government said. Other cities in
the province, including Weihai and Yantai, took similar moves.
South
Korea reported an additional 144 confirmed cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday,
bringing the total to 977 with 11 deaths, according to the Yonhap News Agency.
The spike in infection numbers also raised concerns on looming massive
infection in the country.
Japan is
also on the edge of a rapid spread of the virus, as the confirmed number has
now topped 861, including passengers previously quarantined at the Diamond
Princess cruise ship.
South
Korea and Japan have become two of the most virus-stricken countries outside of
China. Some countries and regions also issued travel warnings to South Korea
and Japan. The US Center for Disease Control and Prevention raised its travel
advisory to South Korea to the highest level on Monday and urged against all
nonessential travel to the country.
Besides
Shandong, provinces in Northeast China, with a considerable ethnic Korean
population, also escalated prevention and control measures. Hunchun, a city in
Northeast China’s Jilin and bordering North Korea, imposed a 14-day mandatory
quarantine for all foreign returnees to the city. Those without the city's
permanent residence will be sent to designated places for quarantine.
And
Dalian, a city in Northeast China’s Liaoning that hosts the annual summer Davos
meeting, also took targeted measures to prevent overseas cases of infection,
paying more attention to neighboring countries, the local government said on
Monday. Local authorities in Shenyang, capital of Liaoning, sent out alert
messages to local residents, urging them to avoid going to communities where
Chinese returning from South Korea live.
China
has made a huge sacrifice by imposing unprecedented city lockdowns and drastic
restrictions on movement, which WHO experts called a “bold approach” that
changed the course of the epidemic, which probably prevented hundreds of
thousands of more cases of infection.
The
country has seen visible progress in its fight against the disease with 24
provincial-level regions across China reporting zero new cases of COVID-19
infections on Monday. Outside of Hubei, regions reported only nine new cases of
infections on Tuesday, a significant drop from previous days. Meanwhile, WHO
experts mentioned that the number of coronavirus cases reported in China a day
has dropped from 2,500 two weeks ago to 406 on Monday, which was about an 80
percent decline.
Provinces
such as Liaoning and Shandong are regions where many South Koreans and Japanese
do business, study, visit relatives and temporarily settle down. “Considering
the severe situation in neighboring countries, it is necessary for local
authorities in these provinces to enhance preparedness, as we can't let our
previous efforts end in vain,” Liang Qidong, vice president of the Liaoning
Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Tuesday.
Raise awareness
A
50-year-old man, surnamed Shim, who works in a foreign exchange company in
Seoul, told the Global Times on Tuesday that his company distributed facial
masks to employees on Monday and asked them to wear it before going to the
office.
“But not
many people are wearing masks in our office today, including me, because I
think it might look a little bit overreacting. The situation is not that bad in
Seoul,” Shim said.
WHO
Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a Monday briefing that
outside of China, there were 2,074 infection cases in 28 countries and regions
with 23 deaths, and the sudden increase of cases in Italy, Iran and South Korea
“are deeply concerning.”
However,
online video footage and media reports showed that local residents in Seoul
showed up in a public rally over the weekend while the South Korean government
vowed to bring in maximum measures to contain the outbreak. South Korea planned
to test around 200,000 members of the Shincheonji Church, which is believed to
be the ground zero of the spread in the country.
More
importantly, public awareness was also urged to be raised in combating the
disease not only in South Korea but also in Japan.
Nomachi
Ayako, a first-year Japanese graduate studying at Shanghai International
Studies University, stayed in Shanghai for the winter break and chose to
continue staying there despite the virus outbreak because she feels Shanghai
has taken more vigorous measures to prevent and control the epidemic than her
home city Tokyo.
“My
family insisted I stay in Shanghai, because the situation is more serious in
Japan,” she told the Global Times on Tuesday.
Ayako
said some of her Japanese friends feel panic due to the great shortage of
protective masks in Japan and no mandatory city lockdowns there like in China,
and the pollen season is coming up, which may cause a further spread of the
epidemic. Also, some of the dismissed asymptomatic people on the Diamond
Princess cruise ship have started coughing and having a fever after returning
home, so people are worried of being infected unintentionally by these people
during their incubation period.
The
Japanese Embassy in Beijing told the Global Times on Tuesday that Japanese
nationals will continue to be advised to return to their homeland as soon as
possible, or delay their journeys to China, preventing transmission between the
countries.
Wang
Cheng, a 35-year-old employee with a machinery company in Busan, South Korea,
told the Global Times that few people wear masks in his company and people keep
going out for group dinners as usual despite a warning from the company.
Given
the severe outbreak, South Korea and Japan are expected to learn from the
experiences of China in taking decisive and strict measures to fight the
disease, while China will provide valuable experience and assistance to them.
“It has
become a common challenge beyond borders. China, Japan and South Korea should
further strengthen information sharing and cooperation in epidemic control
work, as it doesn’t only concern one country or the other,” Liang said.
Source:Global Times
Cities tighten measures against import virus spread
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