First batch of around 800 people stranded in Hubei arrive in Beijing

First batch of around 800 people stranded in Central China's Hubei Province due to the coronavirus outbreak have arrived in Beijing on Wednesday afternoon.

These people were transferred by two designated trains which respectively arrived in Beijing at 15:20 and 16:16, a Beijing official said at a municipal press conference on Wednesday.

The whole process of their return to the Chinese capital was well organized and monitored, the official added.

According to the official, over 20,000 Beijing students, teachers and faculty members are still in Hubei. Faculty members who have a fixed residence in Beijing can apply to return to Beijing, but others will have to wait for schools to reopen before making further arrangements. 

While planning to bring people back to Beijing from Hubei, the Beijing authority is also monitoring emerging imported COVID-19 cases.

As of Wednesday noon, a total of 145 imported cases were registered in Beijing, among which 11 have recovered, from 17 countries including the UK, Spain, the U.S. and France. 

On the same day, Beijing reviewed the list of 25 "high risk" countries and regions amid the COVID-19 pandemic.