China reports zero domestic coronavirus cases for a second day in a row

China has reported no new domestic cases of coronavirus for a second day in a row, but the number of imported infections has risen to 228.

Statistics show infected travellers to China have spread to ever more provinces, adding pressure on authorities to toughen entry rules and health protocols.

For a second day in a row, China found no domestically transmitted cases of the virus that emerged in its central province of Hubei late last year, according to new daily figures registered on Thursday.

Fears of a second wave of infections are growing just as China brings its epidemic under control, with the spread of the virus in Europe and North America spurring a rush homewards by Chinese expatriates, many of them overseas students.

‘The number of imported cases in China has further increased, and so the pressure to be on guard has also increased,’ Wang Bin, an official of the National Health Commission, told a news conference in Beijing on Friday.