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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India needs aviation giants, not 'Fly-by-Night' operators, says ex-minister Praful Patel
Mumbai (PTI): Former Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel on Friday warned against "fly-by-night" operators entering India's aviation sector, arguing that only established, high-capital players can survive the industry's "tough" financial demands.
Speaking to PTI, the 68-year-old Rajya Sabha member emphasised that while India has no restrictions on new airlines, the "tough, capital-intensive" nature of the business requires long-term commitment.
"That is why it is important that big players should come into the aviation business, and not just fly-by-night people. Some new airlines have been given licenses, but I don't think they are long-term players," he noted.
His comments come as the Civil Aviation Ministry recently approved three new carriers -- Shankh Air, Al Hind Air, and FlyExpress -- to start their operations in 2026.
Patel, who served as Civil Aviation Minister from 2004-11 under the Congress-led UPA government,
said many newly licensed airlines may lack the endurance required to survive the sector's high cash-flow drain.
"We need strong players like Tatas, who came with Air India. We need similar big names also to come into the aviation sector,” the NCP leader opined.
Asked about IndiGo’s widespread flight cancellations last month, Patel said, “IndiGo is financially a very strong airline, a very big airline. There was an issue of pilots and Flight Duty Time Limitation (FDTL) rules. I wish they had handled it better.”
“Having said that, on the whole, it is still a very important player in the Indian aviation market and will remain important for many, many years to come,” the former Aviation Minister said.
The key sector needs strong players, the veteran politician emphasised.
"I think it is important that aviation needs strong players. The monopoly or duopoly is not there because somebody made it like that. In the past, you saw Jet Airways, Kingfisher and GoAir collapse financially and a series of other airlines also had these kinds of problems,” Patel said.
“That’s why, if there are strong players in aviation, it will be good for the country,” he added.
