A customs officer answers questions for inbound passengers on a flight at the Capital International Airport in Beijing, capital of China, March 18, 2020. (Xinhua/Chen Zhonghao)
BEIJING, March 30 (Xinhua) -- China must shore up its preventive measures against the imported cases of novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) as cases are soaring overseas, a health official said Monday.
Since China reported no new domestic case for the first time on March 18, there have been reports of sporadic cases in the country, said Mi Feng, a spokesperson for the National Health Commission (NHC), at a press conference in Beijing.
Mi urged solid implementation of prevention and control measures against a rebound in COVID-19 cases in the country and underscored the importance of community-level efforts.
A total of 638,146 COVID-19 cases have been reported globally as of 4:00 p.m. Monday Beijing Time, according to the situation dashboard by the World Health Organization (WHO).
WHO data showed global cases have increased by more than 10 percent every day in the past week.
The Chinese mainland reported 30 new imported COVID-19 cases Sunday, bringing the total number of imported cases to 723, according to the NHC daily report. ■
