Tighter controls on land border imperative: China Daily editorial

With the authorities in Beijing deciding to "normalize" the capital's strict epidemic control measures and some local authorities retracting their newly released guidelines on loosening pandemic control rules, it is more than evident that fears of a "second wave" of novel coronavirus infections are not just limited to the less-informed man on the street.

With some seemingly "healthy" people having been found to be carrying the virus, and the scope and infectious capacity of such asymptomatic virus carriers still largely unknown, such prudence is warranted.

Even more so given the risks stemming from transmission of the virus by those entering the country. While the asymptomatic cases may be ferreted out via larger scale screening of susceptible demographic groups in the now relatively stable domestic environment, it is imperative to manage the risks coming from outside — imported cases are now the sole source of new infections in the country — which is trickier and more challenging.

In the 24 hours of Monday, for instance, all the 32 newly confirmed infections were imported ones. And in all, there have been nearly 1,000 imported cases reported so far.

The economy and normal international exchanges can't afford a complete shutdown of corresponding channels. Humanitarian concerns, from the shipment of pandemic relief materials to necessary evacuation of Chinese nationals from foreign countries, must continue.

But since the civil aviation authorities are enacting stricter controls on international passenger flights and arrival diversion regimes to reduce the pressure on those carrying out border quarantining and medical screening, the risks accompanying air travel seem to be within control. Arrivals by water ought to be equally controllable considering similar measures are easily applicable to passenger vessels.

The greatest risks lie along the country's 22,000-kilometer land border, which includes 91 official ports of entry and numerous smaller, even unofficial points of entry, including cross-border trails not even on the official record.

Statistics show an abrupt drop — over 80 percent — in passenger flows through official entry points after the strict restrictions were put in place to stem the incoming flow of infections. But the real danger resides beyond those easily manageable places.

Considering the high price the country has paid for its present achievements in containing the pandemic, in order to make sure our initial success is not sabotaged by imported cases, there is a pressing need to exert more effective control over our long and at some points porous land border.

This entails enormous manpower and financial inputs. But with the country's overall pandemic control efforts at stake, it demands the effort.