China reports no domestic coronavirus cases amid rise in imported infections
Beijing: China has reported no new domestic cases of the novel coronavirus but confirmed 39 imported infections, taking the death toll to 3,270 as the country ramped up measures to strictly quarantine people coming from abroad to prevent a recurrence of the COVID-19 outbreak, health officials said on Monday.
Nine persons died of the deadly virus in the country on Sunday taking the total death toll so far in the Chinese mainland to 3,270, China's National Health Commission, (NHC) said on Monday.
The overall confirmed cases on the mainland has reached 81,093 by the end of Sunday. It included 3,270 people who died of the disease, 5,120 patients still undergoing treatment 72,703 patients discharged after recovery, it said.
Also, no new locally transmitted case was reported from the country on Sunday, including from the virus epicentres Hubei province and its capital Wuhan.
Last week for three consecutive days China reported zero cases of the locally transmitted cases in a major milestone in efforts to contain the vicious virus after it surfaced in the Wuhan city in December last year.
But one domestically transmitted case reported in Guangzhou on Saturday, which was traced to contact with an imported case.
The NHC said on Monday that no new domestically transmitted case of the COVID-19 was reported on the Chinese mainland on Sunday but 39 new confirmed cases were reported all of which were imported, which takes the total number of such cases 353.
Of them, 10 were reported in Beijing and Shanghai respectively, and six in the provinces of Fujian and Guangdong respectively.
The provinces of Shandong and Gansu both reported two cases and Zhejiang and Henan, and Chongqing Municipality each reported one. By the end of Sunday, 353 imported cases were reported, the NHC said.
However, the NHC has not specified whether the imported cases were that of foreigners or Chinese nationals arriving from abroad. It said 136 people were still suspected of being infected with the virus.
By the end of Sunday, 317 confirmed cases, including four deaths have been reported in Hong Kong, 21 confirmed cases in Macao, and 169 in Taiwan, including two deaths, the NHC said.
As the country saw a surge in imported infections, the government announced that all international flights scheduled to arrive in capital Beijing will be redirected to airports in 12 other Chinese cities from Monday.
International passengers flying to Beijing will instead land in airports in 12 cities including Shanghai, Tianjin, Nanjing and Shenyang as their first points of entry, the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) said in a statement.
Passengers will go through customs clearance and quarantine at these airports, and those having passed quarantine inspection can fly to Beijing in their original flights, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
The entry arrangements for the Beijing-bound international flights will be adjusted in a timely manner in accordance with the COVID-19 outbreak situation, the statement said.
According to the Johns Hopkins coronavirus tracker, the death toll from the virus globally has risen to 14,641 with 336,000 cases reported in 173 countries and territories.
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Putin meets Iran's FM Araghchi, says Russia ready to do its best to help bring peace to West Asia
Moscow (PTI): Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Monday met Russian President Vladimir Putin, who hailed the Iranian people for fighting bravely and heroically for their sovereignty and said Moscow is ready to do its best to help bring peace to West Asia as soon as possible.
Araghchi, who held talks with Omani and Pakistani leadership before arriving in Russia, met Putin in St. Petersburg and thanked him for supporting Iran, state-owned TASS news agency reported.
"Russia is ready to do everything in its power to ensure that peace in the Middle East is achieved as soon as possible," Putin said during his meeting with Araghchi, which was also attended by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
Revealing that he received a message from Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei last week, Putin asked Araghchi to convey his "gratitude for this message and best wishes for his health and well-being."
He praised the Iranian people for fighting "bravely and heroically" for their sovereignty, Iran's state-run PRESS TV reported.
"We really hope that, based on the courage and desire for independence, the Iranian people, under the guidance of the new leader, will weather this difficult period of trials and peace will come,” Putin said.
He also stressed that Russia “intends to maintain” its strategic relations with Iran.
Araghchi said that the world witnessed Iran’s strength in countering the US during the recent war, and that the Islamic Republic is a "stable and powerful establishment."
"With their courage, the Iranian people succeeded in resisting the US aggression and will be able to endure it,” he said.
He said that it became clear that Iran has “great friends and allies” like Russia, and conveyed “warmest greetings” from Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei and President Masoud Pezeshkian to the Russian leader.
Araghchi said relations between Moscow and Tehran represent a “strategic partnership at the highest level” and will continue to develop "regardless of circumstances."
"We are grateful to you for the solid and strong positions in support of the Islamic Republic of Iran," he said.
Foreign Minister Lavrov said that the talks between President Putin and the Iranian Foreign Minister were "useful and constructive."
Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov later said that Russia is "ready to provide any good offices, any mediation services that are acceptable to the parties."
"We will be ready to do everything so that ultimately peace ensues, guaranteed peace, and that there is no return to hostilities," Peskov was quoted as saying by TASS.
He was asked how Moscow can assist in future negotiations on the Iranian settlement.
Araghchi arrived in Russia after his whirlwind trip to Islamabad, which, according to him, was “very productive” and involved “good consultations" with Pakistan's Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir, amid uncertainty over the second round of peace talks to resolve the war in West Asia.
"We held good consultations with our friends in Pakistan. The trip was successful. We assessed the outcome of our recent (meetings) and discussed in what direction and under what conditions talks can move on,” Araghchi said in a video posted on his Telegram channel upon his arrival in St Petersburg.
Referring to the second round of talks between the US and Iran to resolve the conflict in West Asia, Araghchi said: "Developments have taken place in the negotiations."
"Despite some progress in earlier rounds, the talks failed to reach their objectives due to the Americans' approach, the excessive demands they made, and the wrong approaches they adopted. Therefore, it was necessary to consult with our friends in Pakistan to review the latest situation,” Iran's official news agency IRNA quoted him as saying.
He said that the trip to Pakistan was a good opportunity to review developments related to the US-Israeli war against Iran, expressing confidence that “these consultations and coordination between the two countries will be highly significant.”
Araghchi arrived at St. Petersburg's Pulkovo Airport early Monday, where he was welcomed by Russian officials and Iran’s ambassador to Russia, Kazem Jalali, the report said.
The first round of peace talks between Iran and the US, held on April 11 and 12, failed to bring the desired result for the parties to the conflict.
The Iranian minister arrived in Islamabad for the second time on Sunday after a short visit to Oman, where he held talks with Sultan Haitham bin Tariq al-Said on security in the Strait of Hormuz and diplomatic efforts to end the Iran-US conflict.
After Araghchi left Pakistan for Oman on Saturday, President Donald Trump announced that US negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner would no longer be going to Islamabad for talks with Iran, contending that Washington held all the cards on the matter.
Trump on Sunday reiterated that the US and Iranian officials can talk by phone for a peace solution to the conflict.
On Tuesday, Trump extended the two-week ceasefire with Iran indefinitely to give Tehran more time to prepare a unified proposal to end the war, just hours before the truce was set to expire.
The war began when the US and Israel jointly attacked Iran on February 28, killing Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and several top commanders. The retaliation by the Islamic Republic extended the war to the entire Gulf region.
