(Reuters) – China recorded its biggest daily jump in new COVID-19 cases in more than two months, as a city on the border with Myanmar in southwestern Yunnan province accounted for all new local cases.
The local government of Ruili put the residents of its urban area in quarantine, started a massive test and started restricting the exit and entry of the city into the city since last week after informing the COVID-19 patients.
The city accounted for all 15 new local cases reported on April 4th. The total number of new COVID-19 infections, including infections imported from abroad, stood at 32, marking the highest total since 31 January.
Genetic analysis of the cases discovered in Ruili suggests that the new local infections come from viruses imported from Myanmar, state media reported. Of the new patients reported in the city, 11 of them were identified as Myanmar citizens.
Ruili is a key transit point for Yunnan Province, which has struggled to control its 4,000km border with Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam to detect illegal immigration amid a wave of unauthorized steps in the year passed by people seeking refuge for the pandemic. .
Local authorities have also launched a vaccination campaign in Ruili to try to contain COVID-19 and increase the herd’s immunity in the city.
The number of new asymptomatic cases, which China does not classify as confirmed cases, stood at 18, coinciding with the total a day earlier.
The total number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in mainland China is now 90,305, while the number of deaths remains unchanged at 4,636.
Report by Se Young Lee in Washington; Editing by Himani Sarkar and Michael Perry