7 Foreign Passport Holders Among 189 Imported Infections so Far

Original Mike Wester theBeijinger

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Foreign passport holders make up at least seven of the 189 people who have tested positive for COVID-19 after flying into China from abroad, the Beijing News reports in a statistical snapshot of so-called imported cases through the end of the day Mar 18.

Information about the ethnicity of these seven was not included, and because of the preponderance of dual passport holders, it is not wise or advisable to make assumptions about the ethnicity or nationality of any of the individuals.

According to the report, of the seven foreign passport holders, five are currently in Shanghai, while the other two are in Guangzhou. However, we have reason to believe that there are in fact at least two cases in Beijing: a passenger we previously reported on who arrived in Beijing from Boston on Mar 12, was found to be concealing her symptoms, and is now under official investigation for endangering the public; and another foreign-passport holder, known to the Beijinger via a personal connection, who has tested positive for the virus and is currently receiving treatment in a Beijing hospital.

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Imported cases in Beijing as of Mar 18

Of the 64 imported cases in Beijing, a full 27 (40 percent) are students, and reportedly flew into Beijing from the following destinations:

Spain: 20 cases
Italy: 17 cases
UK: 13 cases
US: 3 cases
Hungary: 3 cases
Iran: 3 cases
Austria: 2 cases
Thailand: 1 case
Brazil: 1 case
Luxembourg: 1 case

Only 14 of the 64 Beijing cases were returning to Beijing specifically, while the remainder were intending to transfer through the capital on their way home to other areas of China.

Imported cases around China as of Mar 18

In all, just five different regions of the country represent 92.6 percent of all imported infections:

Beijing: 64 cases
Gansu: 42 cases
Guandong: 28 cases
Shanghai: 25 cases
Zhejiang: 16 cases

Although Beijing and Gansu currently have the most imported cases, the number of critical cases in these two areas (3.6 percent for Beijing and 6 percent for Gansu) are considerably lower than the critical case average for most other areas of China.

The unusually high number of imported cases in Gansu is reportedly due to local students who have returned from studying abroad in Iran. In early March, over 255 students, as well as teachers and their family members, flew back from Iran to the central-northern province.