(Reuters) – China has reported its biggest daily jump in new COVID-19 cases in more than two months, as a city on the border with Myanmar in the southwestern province of Yunnan was responsible for all new local affairs.
Ruili’s local government has placed residents in its urban area under quarantine, launched a massive test drive and started leaving people from last week, entering the city after reporting COVID-19 patients.
The city has accounted for all 15 new local cases reported on April 4. The total number of new COVID-19 infections, including imported infections originating from abroad, was 32 and was the highest total since 31 January.
Genetic analysis of the cases discovered in Ruili suggests that the new local infections stem from viruses imported from Myanmar, state media reported. Of the new patients reported in the city, 11 of them have been identified as citizens of Myanmar.
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. .
Local authorities have also embarked on a vaccination drive in Ruili to contain COVID-19 and build up herd immunity in the city.
The number of new asymptomatic cases, which China does not classify as confirmed cases, was 18, corresponding to the total of a day earlier.
The total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases on mainland China now stands at 90,305, while the death toll remains unchanged at 4,636.
(Report by Se Young Lee in Washington; edited by Himani Sarkar and Michael Perry)