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The lockdown of Hubei province, where Wuhan is located, may have bought China months before the next wave becomes a real threat. According to a study published in Lancet Public Health March 25, social-distancing measures may not just flatten the curve, they can also push back waves of infection to October.

Some of China’s overseas citizens trying to go home are already infected and wanted to return for treatment, while others were infected during the flight. On Friday, all 54 reported new cases in China were imported, according to the National Health Commission. So far, China has reported 595 imported cases since late February.

The imported cases “undoubtedly pose a severe challenge to the results of domestic epidemic prevention and control, the pace of restarting production and work, as well as people’s safety,” the Civil Aviation Administration of China said in a March 26 statement.

The Chinese embassy in the U.K. said in a March 8 statement that there are no plans to send chartered flights to fly overseas Chinese home. Instead, it suggested overseas citizens try to get help where they are, for example by calling overseas Chinese organizations to help with face masks and other protective equipment. It has asked students to contact their schools to decide on how to proceed with their courses.

Photo by Stringer/Reuters

Liu Xiaoming, China’s ambassador in the U.K., told Chinese students on March 25 that staying where they are is safer, given the potential dangers in the homebound journey. Instead of flying dozens of hours without eating or drinking, wearing gloves and masks, and then being quarantined for 14 days on arrival in China, “I think it’s better to stay.”

That, however, hasn’t stopped some Chinese students from doing whatever it takes to come back, despite sky-rocketing fares, in the belief that they can’t get proper medical treatment overseas.

A female student who studies in the U.K. took a two-stop 51-hour journey from London to her hometown Xi’an wearing protective clothing and goggles throughout, according to a video widely circulated on Chinese social media.

“We are coming back because we rely on China’s medical treatment. It’s not to bring back the virus,” she said in the video.

©2020 Bloomberg L.P.