SHANGHAI (Reuters) – China reported 26 new cases of COVID-19 on April 2, compared to nine a day earlier, the national health authority said on Saturday when officials in the southwest of the country linked a local outbreak with Myanmar.
The National Health Commission said seven of the new cases were local infections in Yunnan province, where a COVID-19 group originated in the city of Ruili, which borders Myanmar.
Genetic analysis of cases in Ruili suggests it stems from viruses imported from Myanmar and not related to other recent localized outbreaks in China, state media reported with reference to a press release.
Ruili is a major crossroads for Yunnan province, which has struggled to monitor its 4,000km rough border with Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam for illegal immigration amid a spate of unauthorized crossings last year by people seeking refuge from seeking the pandemic. .
The city has imposed home quarantine, exit restrictions and mass tests. By Saturday, state media had identified 3,650 close contacts and secondary contacts of affairs.
The other 19 new infections in mainland China have been introduced, the national health commission said.
The number of new asymptomatic cases, which China does not classify as confirmed cases, has risen from 20 to 24.
Confirmed COVID-19 cases in mainland China now stand at 90,252, with the death toll unchanged at 4,636.
(Reporting by Andrew Galbraith; Editing by William Mallard)