Coronavirus: Inner Mongolia tightens quarantine rules as fears of second wave of cases grows
- International arrivals to the vast northern region will be forced to spend 28 days in quarantine
- Fears of new clusters of Covid-19 cases heightened after 87 cases in northeastern city of Harbin were traced to a student returning from the US
New international arrivals to the northern Chinese region of Inner Mongolia will have to undergo 28 days of quarantine as part of an effort by local officials to tighten measures to curb the spread of Covid-19 amid growing fears of a secondary outbreak.
According to a statement by the local government late on Saturday, new arrivals from outside China, including those arriving through other provinces, must now undergo a “14-day centralised medical observation” as well as an additional “14-day medical observation at home”.
They will be released from the 28-day quarantine if all the tests, including two for nucleic acid and one for antibodies, proved negative, the statement said.
Visitors from domestic locations classified as “high-risk zones”, including Beijing’s Chaoyang district, home to many foreign embassies and one of the main business districts in the Chinese capital, as well as two districts in Guangzhou – Baiyun and Yuexiu – will also be subject to a 14-day medical observation and coronavirus test period, it said.
The stricter measures come in response to the rapid spread of the outbreak worldwide and the risk of a second wave of infections in some parts of China.