COVID-19 outbreak reported along China-Myanmar border

At least nine people have recently tested positive for COVID-19 in China’s Yunnan province along the border with Myanmar.

On Wednesday, the Health Commission of Yunnan Province announced confirmed cases among five Chinese citizens and four Burmese nationals.

The residential compound where the cases were detected has been locked down, The Associated Press reported. It was not immediately evident how the outbreak began.

The city of Ruili has ordered a crackdown on illegal border crossings, according to the AP, in addition to individuals sheltering migrants or organizing the crossings.

Military and police action against demonstrators protesting last month’s coup in Myanmar may be spurring people to cross the border, though the AP noted that the influence of the crackdowns is difficult to measure.

Ruili has reportedly mandated a one-week home quarantine and will test its entire population of 210,000 for COVID-19. All businesses except supermarkets, drugstores and food markets are closed in the area.

The first infection in the cluster was detected on Monday during routine testing, according to the health commission. The subsequent cases were reported following testing of close contacts.

Three of the patients are asymptomatic, the health commission noted, and six are showing symptoms.