All travelers are required to have a nucleic acid test upon arriving at any Shenzhen port starting midnight yesterday, according to a notice issued by the city’s office of port of entry and exit.

The tightened prevention and control measure has been taken in response to the recent increasing number of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) infections imported from overseas.

A staff member prepares the reagent for nucleic test in a laboratory. Xinhua

Under the new control measure, all travelers must also submit a personal health statement to customs officials at the port of their arrival, in addition to declaring their health condition on the online platforms of “i深圳” (iShenzhen) or “粤康码” (Yuekangma). They are required to cooperate with the quarantine personnel at their arrival port to carry out necessary epidemiological checks to detect the virus to prevent cross-infection in the city.

All of the recent new infections of the virus reported in the city since March 1 have been imported from overseas with the arrivals of Chinese travelers returning from a foreign country and foreign nationals who had recently visited any of the countries hard hit by the virus.