(Reuters) – China reported the largest 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.
Ruili’s local government quarantined residents in its urban area, launched a massive test attempt and began restricting people from leaving and entering the city since last week after patients were reported with COVID-19.
The city represented all 15 new local cases reported on April 4. The total number of new COVID-19 infections, including imported infections from abroad, was 32, marking the highest total since 31 January.
Genetic analysis of 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 monitor its 4,000km border with Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam for illegal immigration amid a wave of unauthorized crossings last year by people seeking refuge from the pandemic. .
Local authorities have also started a vaccination action in Ruili, in an attempt to contain COVID-19 and build the herd immunity in the city.
The number of new asymptomatic cases, which China does not classify as confirmed cases, was 18, equivalent to a total of one day earlier.
The total number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in mainland China now stands at 90,305, while the death toll remains unchanged at 4,636.
Report by Se Young Lee in Washington; Editing by Himani Sarkar and Michael Perry