(Yicai Global) Aug. 10 -- Shanghai plans to further tighten up on inbound flights from overseas after the authorities yesterday confirmed 18 new imported cases of Covid-19, the most in a single day since 51 were confirmed as having arrived on a Russian Airlines plane on April 11.

The 18 new patients -- all Chinese who work in the United Arab Emirates -- have been taken to hospitals, while 237 of their close contacts on the flight have been quarantined, the Shanghai Municipal Health Commission said in a press release today.

The commission said that in response to many imported cases on some inbound planes recently, regulators will fortify measures to curb the incidence. The city will further implement control measures for international flights, and strengthen pre-boarding quarantine and verification of negative nucleic acid test results, it said

The commission also told Shanghai businesses to be more vigilant about the health of their employees working abroad.

China’s civil aviation watchdog has introduced a so-called fuse mechanism. According to a notice from the Civil Aviation Administration on June 4, a carrier’s route can be suspended for a week if the number of passengers who test positive reaches five after entry to the country. If the number rises to 10, the airline’s operations on that route will be halted for four weeks.

Shanghai is treating 48 imported cases of Covid-19 at the moment, all of which are mild or common. The patients are in a stable condition.

Editor: Peter Thomas