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BEIJING: A major city in northeast China has quarantined more than 7,500 people after discovering three new cases of coronavirus in the past five days, as the region sees an increase in infections.
China has largely controlled the virus after months of blockades and travel restrictions, but fears of a second wave have increased as groups have emerged in the northeast provinces and the central city of Wuhan.
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Shenyang, a city of about 7.5 million, reported its first new local case in 89 days on Monday (May 11), and two other new local cases on Thursday.
His government confirmed Thursday that the new cases were linked to a group in the city of Shulan, nearly 500 kilometers away in neighboring Jilin province.
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Some 7,500 people who arrived from Jilin since April 22 and those who came into close contact with the three local cases in Shenyang were required to undergo a 21-day quarantine and three nucleic acid tests.
The city has also postponed the reopening of the schools, some of which had been scheduled to welcome students on Friday.
Authorities in Wuhan’s pandemic ground zero also ordered massive COVID-19 tests for the 11 million residents after a new group of cases emerged over the weekend.
President Xi Jinping said Thursday that containment measures should be stepped up in Jilin, neighboring Heilongjiang and Wuhan “to prevent the resurgence of infections,” Xinhua reported.
The cities of Jilin and Shulan, both in Jilin province, were closed last week after an initial group that appeared in Shulan on Monday spread to Jilin.
Strict transportation controls have been established, schools have been closed and mass gatherings have been banned.
Jilin’s deputy mayor warned on Wednesday that the situation was “extremely severe and complicated” and that “there is a great risk of further spread.”
The Shulan group was linked to a local woman with no known history of foreign travel or previous exposure to the virus, raising concerns about its unknown origin.
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