Objective To analyze epidemiological characteristics of imported coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases from abroad in Mainland China for providing evidences to estimate and control importation risk of the disease.
Methods From official reports issued by China national/provincial/municipal health commissions, we extracted the data on all imported COVID-19 cases from foreign countries and their travel routes from February 29, 2020 to May 20, 2020. Demographic characteristics and spatial-temporal distribution of the cases were described statistically using SPSS 25.0 and Joinpoint Version 4.7.
Results During the period, totally 1 709 imported COVID-19 cases were registered in Mainland China; obviously regional disparities were observed in the spatial-temporal distribution of the imported cases and there were 9 municipalities with the number of the imported cases of more than 50. The majority of the imported COVID-19 cases were from countries including Russia, United Kingdom, United States, France, and Spain and of all the imported cases, about 40% were overseas students and only 10% were foreigners.
Conclusion The spatial-temporal distribution of imported COVID-19 cases in Mainland China varied obviously from February to May, 2020 and the variation was related to the deployment and implemenntation of the disease control strategies in different cities .
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