BEIJING — Nucleic acid testing should cover all inbound personnel and those involved in transferring inbound travelers, a Chinese health official said on May 18.

Prevention measures including closed-loop management should be strengthened to prevent domestically transmitted cases in light of the evolving situation overseas, as people-to-people exchanges and economic cooperation may increase, Mi Feng, spokesperson for the National Health Commission, said at a press conference.

China is facing growing pressure to prevent imported cases, Mi said, adding that the number of daily new confirmed cases worldwide exceeded 100,000 for the first time on May 17, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to more than 4.52 million.