Officers take high road to guard nation's border

Sense of duty

Liu Weiqiang, 38, is deputy captain with the second team of the Wuhan Exit and Entry Border Inspection Station, Hubei province. He and his colleagues have stuck to their duties at the Wuhan Tianhe International Airport inspection station since the start of the pandemic.

Liu, who joined the immigration police in 2005, hasn't spent Spring Festival with his parents in Heilongjiang province for about 10 years.

This year, his plans to spend Spring Festival with his wife and children in Wuhan were disrupted by the novel coronavirus outbreak, which he said will probably be the most memorable experience of his career.

On Jan 23, Wuhan was locked down, meaning only official vehicles could enter or exit the city and all residents were required to self-quarantine at home.

However, the airport was still receiving a small number of inbound international flights, so Liu and several officers who were heading home for the holiday returned to their posts.

As Liu had asked to join the first deployment, he faced unknown risks because the main features of the virus had yet to be identified.

On the morning of Jan 24, Liu and his team inspected the airport's first inbound suspected patient.

"We were scared and under huge pressure. I didn't know whether the passenger was infected or not, but I had to check his face and passport. I asked him to hold his breath for a while. I also held my breath, though I was wearing a mask and a face shield－it was the longest moment I've ever experienced," Liu said.

By the end of May, Liu's team had inspected numerous inbound chartered flights, and of 161 passengers identified as suspected cases, 18 were later confirmed to be infected.