BEIJING — An official with the Chinese health authority said on April 27 that since March 21, the authority has received reports of 107 COVID-19 cases which were linked to imported cases on the Chinese mainland.

These cases accounted for 88.4 percent of the local confirmed cases, said Wang Bin, the official with the National Health Commission, at a press conference in Beijing.

These cases are mainly located in key border or coastal regions, Wang said.

According to Wang, a history of close contact or common exposure to relevant confirmed cases has been found in these cases, with the greatest threat of exposure within families.

Wang said this should serve as a reminder for anti-virus staff and the public about the importance of strengthening efforts to cope with imported cases, noting that there were some loopholes in the earlier efforts to prevent imported cases and there has been a fall in vigilance among some anti-epidemic personnel and members of the public.

She said relevant efforts must be further strengthened with quarantine measures for all inbound travelers being properly carried out.

The requirements of early detection, reporting, quarantine and treatment should be implemented and the monitoring system at fever clinics and the reporting network must be enhanced.

The "closed-loop management" of possible cases should be exercised to ensure the timely and effective handling of any cluster cases or community transmission of the virus that may occur, Wang noted.