China on Wednesday closed its land border with Russia on eastern Heilongjiang province, in an attempt to prevent more cases of the novel SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus among compatriots who use the area to return to the country.
The government specifically closed the point of Suifenhe in China's Heilongjiang province, which received about 100 sick people since weekend and needed to reinforce the medical staff with professionals and supplies transferred from another city to attend them.
The National Immigration Administration (NIA) banned early this week land border crossing points until further notice due to the increase in the number of coronavirus patients in neighboring nations.
NIA director Liu Haitao said during a press briefing that the issuance of certificates for the transit of passengers in private visits and tourism has been suspended. Those who require travel for cases of force majeure will only be exempted.
About 3,342 people have died in China due to the novel coronavirus strain, 1,995 are asymptomatic patients and 81,802 are confirmed cases of the dangerous pneumonia, including 951 imported cases.
The spread of the coronavirus pandemic triggered the alert in China and the government is considering keeping Beijing, the capital, under the prevention and epidemiological control phase for a long time.
