Shenyang, Dalian airports in China now require negative COVID test result from passengers

BEIJING: Two major airports in northeastern China are requiring departing passengers show a negative coronavirus test taken over the previous 72 hours before they can board their planes. The requirements by the Shenyang and Dalian airports come amid a small but persistent growth in cases in the two cities located in Liaoning province just north of the capital Beijing.

Four new cases were announced on Friday in Liaoning, along with another five cases in Beijing, where emergency testing was ordered for more than a million people following the detection of a small cluster in the northeastern suburbs.

Wary of another wave of infections, China is urging tens of millions of migrant workers to stay put during next month's annual Lunar New Year holiday, usually the world's largest annual human migration. Classes are also being dismissed a week earlier than usual and tourists are being told not to come to Beijing for holidays.

China on Friday reported a total of 19 new virus cases, including 10 that were brought from outside the country. A total of 370 people are in treatment for COVID-19 and another 279 are being observed in isolation for having tested positive for the disease without showing symptoms.

Since the coronavirus was detected in the central city of Wuhan in late 2019, China has reported a total of 87,071 cases and 4,634 deaths, although some question whether those figures underreport the extent of the outbreak in the country.

In other developments in the Asia-Pacific region: Japan's Emperor Naruhito expressed gratitude to medical professionals and acknowledged the hardship caused by the coronavirus in a New Year's Day message.

Naruhito also offered empathy to those who lost loved ones, lost their jobs or were struggling with loneliness. Japan has had more than 3,000 deaths from COVID-19. Worries are growing about another surge in cases, reaching a daily record of 1,337 new infections for the capital Tokyo on Thursday.