China: 54 of 55 new virus cases from abroad

China's National Health Commission on Friday reported 55 new cases of the new coronavirus, including 54 it says are imported infections in recent arrivals from overseas.

Once again, there were no new cases reported in Wuhan, the central Chinese provincial capital where the coronavirus was first detected in December.

As the number of China's reported domestic cases has dwindled, it has had to cope with infected people coming from abroad. Recently, these individuals have been the majority of China's new cases.

The country's Ministry of Foreign Affairs had announced late Thursday that all foreign nationals — including residence permit-holders — will be barred from entering China starting this Saturday. All visa-free transit policies will also be temporarily suspended.

Diplomatic workers will be exempt, while foreign nationals coming to China for "necessary economic, trade, scientific or technological activities or out of emergency humanitarian needs" can still apply for visas, the ministry said in a statement.