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The onset of the peak of the Spring Festival travel rush caused public concern regarding the prevention and control of the novel coronavirus pneumonia (NCP) epidemic.

Shanghai's Hongqiao transport hub, where Hongqiao international airport and railway stations are located, screened temperatures of 1.22 million visitors as of Friday. Among them 101 showed abnormal temperatures and 60 of them were transported to hospitals, Shanghai Municipal Health Commission announced Saturday.

Hongqiao transport hub is the key area of epidemic prevention and control in Shanghai. At the onset of the return travel peak, holding the pass is the key to reducing the outbreak risk, Hang Wenquan, director of health commission of Minhang district in Shanghai, said at the press conference on Saturday.

As of Saturday afternoon, a total of 16 inspection points have been set up at Hongqiao airport and Hongqiao railway station, and 50 medical staff, 100 police officers, and 260 volunteers have been put on duty spanning 24 hours for input prevention campaign toward NCP prevention at the hub.

Passengers have to pass through infrared temperature screenings and register detailed travel history on an electronic platform, as reported.

People living in Shanghai and other major cities are greatly apprehensive and urged returnees to stay indoors in a self-imposed quarantine of 14 days after arrival to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus, said a user of China's Twitter-like Sina Weibo. 

According to the latest data, as of Wednesday, the number of trips made during the Spring Festival travel rush in China was 1.318 billion, marking a 35 percent decrease than last year. Since the fifth day (on February 3) of the Chinese Lunar Year, the travel rush has seen an average of 13 million passengers a day, over 80 percent decline than last year, Ministry of Transport announced at a press conference on Thursday. 

A total of 400 million passenger trips are estimated in the second half of the Spring Festival travel rush, down around 70 percent year-on-year.

The return peak on Sunday, after the Chinese Lantern Festival, will increase the risk of the outbreak in the destination cities, as reported.