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A doctor at a hospital in Kunming, Yunnan Province, China, monitors a novel coronavirus patient using virtual reality technology on Feb. 24. (Reuters/Yonhap News)

The number of new novel coronavirus diagnoses in China has fallen to around 100 per day. Now, more and more overseas Koreans are complaining of hassles as Chinese authorities ratchet up their disease control measures to prevent “reverse transmission” of the coronavirus from overseas.

According to a Mar. 3 survey by the Chinese National Health Commission (NHC), the number of new coronavirus diagnoses on Mar. 2 totaled 125. With the number of new diagnoses in Wuhan dropping from 193 on Mar. 1 to 111 on Mar. 3, the total number of new diagnoses per day has fallen to around 100 for the first time since mid-January. Thirty-one new deaths were reported on Tuesday, bringing the total to 2,943 to date.

As the spread of coronavirus within China reaches stable levels, a growing number in the country are calling for measures to present “reverse transmission.” In the city of Lishui, Zhejiang Province, a 31-year-old surnamed Wang and six other Chinese nationals returning from Italy were diagnosed with the coronavirus. In Beijing, a Chinese national returning from Iran was also diagnosed, bringing the total reported number of reverse infections to date to 12. The state-run Global Times reported that “Chinese living overseas are being exposed to danger as coronavirus spreads on a global scale.”

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“More Chinese nationals overseas are in a dilemma as to whether they should return or continue to stay in the country where they are currently residing,” the newspaper said.

“Public health authorities must strike a balance between the overseas Chinese who wish to come home and the war that is being waged in China to stop the coronavirus,” it added.

Public health authorities have cited “preventing reverse infection” as a basis for stepping up control measures such as quarantining and full-scale coronavirus screening for passengers on flights originating in countries such as South Korea, Japan, Iran, and Italy. While the authorities have argued that the measures “apply equally to foreign and Chinese nationals,” they have shown reluctance to intervene in aggressive tactics implemented by local Chinese governments and regional resident committees, including attempts at forced quarantining. A total of 841 overseas Koreans were subjected to self-quarantine or designated quarantine upon entering China over the 14 days before Mar. 3.

By Jung In-hwan, Beijing correspondent

Please direct comments or questions to [english@hani.co.kr]