BEIJING, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- Beijing Municipality reported one new imported asymptomatic case of COVID-19 on Saturday, the first of its kind reported since the city resumed direct international passenger flights earlier this month, authorities said.
The case was a 23-year-old Chinese native who was studying in Pakistan, Wang Quanyi, an official with the city's disease prevention and control center, said at a press conference.
A total of 38 people in close contact with him on the flight have been put under quarantine, Wang said.
It was the first imported asymptomatic COVID-19 case reported in Beijing since the city started resuming direct international passenger flights on September 3, said Wang.
Xu Hejian, a spokesperson of the Beijing municipal government, said the case was the only one among the 2,615 inbound passengers onboard 16 flights that had arrived via the port of Beijing capital airport as of Friday. This proved the low-risk and controllable status of Beijing's epidemic control to prevent imported cases.
Nine inbound, direct passenger flights to Beijing from eight countries have resumed so far.
Xu said passenger flights will be redirected to land at other cities again if the number of COVID-19 cases on a single flight reaches or exceeds three, and operation of the flights will be suspended if five or more cases are found on a single flight. Enditem
