Objective  To analyze epidemiological characteristics and containment efficiency of imported cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Liaoning province and to provide evidences for the prevention and control of imported COVID-19 cases.

  Methods  From China Information System for Disease Prevention and Control, we collected the data on all reported COVID-19 cases imported from abroad into Liaoning province from January 29 to July 12, 2020. The demographics, spatial temporal distribution, clinical characteristics and treatment outcomes of the cases were analyzed in combination with the results of field surveys on the cases.

  Results  The first imported COVID-19 case was reported in Liaoning province on January 29, 2020 and till July 12 of the year, a total of 72 cases were reported, including 33 confirmed cases (45.83%) and 39 asymptomatic infected cases (54.17%). The majority (28, 84.85%) of confirmed cases were common cases and only 5 (15.15%) of the cases were mild cases; no severe, critical or fatal case were reported. In the province, there were 9 municipalities with the reported COVID-19 cases imported from aboard and Shenyang and Dalian were the two municipalities with much more number (36 50.00% and 21 29.17%) of the reported cases. Among the reported cases, 54 (75.00%) were at the ages of 14 to 49 years; 31 (43.06 %) were international students; 10 (13.89 %) were engaged in commercial service and another 10 were retirees. The reported cases entered China from 18 counties and 22.22%, 20.83%, and 15.28% were from the United States, the Russian Federation, and the United Kingdom, respectively. For all the cases, the shortest cure time was 2.38 days and the longest was 40.64 day; the mean cure time was 13.53 ± 7.81 days for the confirmed cases, while the mean time of medical treatment or observation was 13.82 ± 3.27 days for the asymptomatic cases.

  Conclusion  The imported COVID-19 cases from abroad in Liaoning province were mainly asymptomatic or common cases with younger ages and all the them were cured; the cases were mainly international students and business service personnel from the United States, the Russian Federation. The implemented strategies for the containment of the imported COVID-19 cases were reasonable and effective.