Chinese city on Myanmar border reports 19 COVID cases

China's Yunnan Province reported over a dozen confirmed COVID-19 cases imported from Myanmar and three imported asymptomatic carriers from Laos.

Xinhua citing the provincial health commission reported that the Yunnan Province witnessed 19 imported COVID-19 confirmed cases and three imported asymptomatic carriers on Monday.

All the imported confirmed cases lived in Myanmar before entering Yunnan through land checkpoints.

They tested positive for coronavirus on Monday while under quarantine. The asymptomatic cases were imported from Laos.

By the end of Monday, there were 325 confirmed coronavirus infections still hospitalised in Yunnan, including 69 locally transmitted cases and 256 imported ones.

There were also 29 asymptomatic cases, of whom 27 were imported.

Earlier, Yunnan, the city in southwest China that shares a border with Myanmar went into a full lockdown July 7 after the fourth outbreak of infection since the start of the pandemic.

The city of Ruili in Yunnan Province asked all residents to undergo home quarantine as the city authorities closed all establishments with the exception of some markets, hospitals and pharmacies, Xinhua reported.

The Global Times reported that the Delta variant was detected in Ruili, making it the second city to be hit by the virus after Guangzhou.

This latest resurgence of cases Ruili marks the fourth time the city has been hit by the novel coronavirus, and it's the third time it is imposing lockdown measures to contain resurgence.

Health experts said the long border with Myanmar and the Delta strain may have contributed to the virus resurgence in Ruili.

According to Global Times, residents in China and Myanmar have frequent exchanges, which pose a challenge for virus prevention and control. This could be one of the main reasons for the frequent outbreak in Ruili.

( With inputs from ANI )