China reports first local coronavirus case since February

BEIJING (Reuters): The case in Xi’an city in northwestern Shaanxi province is the first locally transmitted case since February 14, although infections in people arriving in China from abroad have been frequently detected.

The Xi’an patient works at a local hospital and is responsible for collecting samples of people in quarantine for coronavirus testing, the provincial health commission said.

China has largely brought the coronavirus under control at home since it first emerged in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in late 2019.

To stave off the risk of imported cases causing a resurgence in local infections, China restricts entry by foreign nationals to certain purposes, such as work, and those that are allowed in still have to undergo quarantine.