A local resident shows a QR code for personal health status at an entry of a housing estate in Hangzhou, capital of East China’s Zhejiang Province on Feb 13, 2020. Photo: cnsphoto

Businesses in East China's Zhejiang Province are taking strict measures to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus by people returning from overseas, as the major manufacturing and export hub reported a spike in imported cases on Tuesday.

As part of official efforts to stop the return of the deadly virus from overseas, some hotels in Zhejiang are not receiving guests who have just come back from countries and regions where there are COVID-19 outbreaks and some businesses are requiring guests to show health certificates.

"The hotel started receiving guests Sunday, but at the moment we're not taking foreign guests," Zhou Qing, manager of the Peninsula hotel in Yiwu, a major export hub of small commodities, told the Global Times on Tuesday.

However, Zhou said that the hotel is open to "foreign guests" who have been in China for over two weeks and shown no symptoms. About 40 percent of the hotel's guests came from India in 2019, according to Zhou.

A spike in imported cases of coronavirus infections have raised concerns over risks of the return of the epidemic, which has so far been effectively contained across the country outside of Hubei, the epicenter. 

On Tuesday, Zhejiang provincial health officials reported seven new cases of coronavirus infections, all from Italy. The province had already reported one imported case from Milan on Monday. The imported cases in particular pose extra complications in efforts to resume business operations. Zhejiang is among the provinces that have seen a fast resumption of production.

Facing the new risk, officials in Jinhua city, which covers Yiwu, have convened emergency meetings to prevent new imported cases, a source close to the Yiwu government told the Global Times on Tuesday. "People who have entered the city have been in quarantine," the source said.

At the Yiwu International Trade City, which usually draws many foreign businesspeople, companies have also taken strict preventive measures, according to Zhang Jiying, owner of a local store that sells umbrellas.

"All people who enter and exit the trade city, including customers and vendors, must present their health code and have their temperature checked at the gate just like at the airport," Zhang told the Global Times on Tuesday, referring to a digital code created by local officials to track people who may have been exposed to the virus.

Zhang said that all stores are disinfected daily and hand sanitizers are also provided. However, there have been not many clients recently and clients mainly send emails asking for prices, according to Zhang.