Beijing adds 11 imported cases of novel coronavirus by noon Wednesday

Beijing added 11 imported cases of the novel coronavirus pneumonia in 12 hours from midnight to noon on Wednesday, bringing the total number of infections coming from overseas to 54, the Beijing municipal government said on Wednesday.

Of the 11 newly confirmed cases, five patients are from Spain, four from the United Kingdom, and one each from Brazil and Luxembourg, Xu Hejian, an official with the Beijing government said during a news conference.

Beijing has recorded no locally transmitted cases since March 7, but the number of imported cases, first detected on Feb 29, has been on the rise, according to Xu.

"The epidemic control situation is extremely complicated, leaving no room for mishaps. More strict and rigorous measures should be taken to control the virus," he said.

Xu added that the Beijing government has strengthened communication with civil aviation and railway authorities to ensure a closed loop for transferring inbound travelers. Authorities have also converted a giant exhibition center in the city's suburban Shunyi district into a designated hub to facilitate handling of returnees from overseas.

Inbound travelers who exhibit no relevant symptoms at airports or other ports will be sent to the hub where special work groups dispatched by their home region authorities are on site to help further transfer them, Xu said.

Beijing also has registered three new suspected cases in inbound travelers on Wednesday by 12 pm, with two from Austria and one from Hungary.

Some imported infections occurred with Chinese students studying abroad in countries affected by the virus, according to Pang Xinghuo, deputy director of Beijing's disease prevention and control center.

In one case briefed during the news conference, a 22-year-old female originally from Chengdu, Southwest China's Sichuan province, began feeling a headache and a sore throat on March 6 in London. She boarded a plane departing from London on Sunday, transferred in Moscow, and eventually landed in Beijing on Monday. She was confirmed as contracting the virus one day later.

Another 27-year-old Chinese female studying in Manchester, the United Kingdom, flew out of the country on Sunday and arrived in Beijing on Monday after a layover in Singapore. Her diagnosis was confirmed on Tuesday.

In another case imported from Spain, a 41-year-old man, who traveled from Beijing to Spain and Brazil from March 1 to 14, was immediately put under medical observation due to his travel history. He started exhibiting feverish symptoms on Monday and was also diagnosed on Tuesday.

Pang said the three patients are either minor or moderate cases and are under treatment in designated hospitals. Thirty-seven close-contacts who have been tracked down so far are undergoing medical observation in centralized facilities.