The Chinese government is shutting down its borders to most foreign arrivals.
The ban, described as an “interim measure,” will go into effect on Friday. The country’s foreign ministry announced Thursday that entry visas granted to foreigners will be suspended in an effort to contain further cases of COVID-19, according to the South China Morning Post. Some exceptions include transit visas and foreigners arriving from Hong Kong and Macau.
“In view of the rapid spread of the new coronavirus epidemic worldwide, China has decided to temporarily suspend entry of foreigners with currently valid visas and residence permits in China,” the ministry said.
The announcement comes days after a leading member of China’s coronavirus team warned that a new wave of infections could come from foreign travelers infecting more people in the country. China, where the virus originated, was the first country to experience a major outbreak and had thousands of deaths. The country has seen a steady decline in new cases in recent weeks.
This week, China announced the first reported instance of community spread from a traveler to a resident. The foreign ministry said Thursday that it would adjust the new travel ban as the situation changes.
“This is an interim measure that China has to take in order to respond to the current epidemic situation, with reference to the practice of many countries,” the ministry said. “The Chinese side will adjust the above measures according to the epidemic situation through separate announcements.”
China has had more than 81,000 cases of the coronavirus, 74,000 recoveries, and more than 3,200 deaths, according to the latest reading by the Johns Hopkins University tracker. Worldwide, there have been more than 492,000 cases of COVID-19, about 120,000 recoveries, and at least 22,100 deaths.
