Coronavirus: Chinese border city in lockdown after 15 new cases, link to Delta variant uncovered

Name: Chinese city on Myanmar border in Covid-19 lockdown amid fears of the spread of Delta variant
Uploaded: 2021-07-07T09:14:21.000Z
Duration: 2 min 3 s
Description: Chinese city on Myanmar border in Covid-19 lockdown amid fears of the spread of Delta variant

Ruili party chief says authorities will crack down on unlawful entry in its efforts to keep the virus out

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A resident gets tested in Chinese border city Ruili, in Yunnan, on Monday. Photo: Xinhua

Holly Chik

Published: 5:14pm, 7 Jul 2021Updated: 11:53am, 9 Jul 2021

The Chinese border city of Ruili went into lockdown on Wednesday after mass testing uncovered 15 new locally transmitted Covid-19 cases.

Authorities in the southwest province of Yunnan, which neighbours Myanmar, said genome sequencing of samples from seven patients showed the strain was closely related to the highly transmissible Delta variant and the strain circulating in Myanmar.

Ruili party chief Zhai Yulong said authorities would trace the source of the latest outbreak and strengthen border control measures.

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Chinese city on Myanmar border in Covid-19 lockdown amid fears of the spread of Delta variant

“[We will] strictly crack down on illegal entry and severely punish illegal entrants and those who organise, assist and offer accommodation,” he told reporters on Wednesday.

Mass testing of more than 265,000 people in Ruili has found 23 cases since Monday. Of those patients, 17 were Myanmese. A community in the city’s Jiegao township, near Muse in Myanmar, has been listed as high risk for Covid-19.

Ruili city proper has been closed off, while residents are required to quarantine at home and report symptoms such as fever, cough and loss of taste or smell.

Schools and businesses – except markets, hospitals and pharmacies – have been ordered to close. A new round of mass testing started on Wednesday morning.