Chinese city near North Korea partly closed as coronavirus cases rise

BEIJING, May 10, 2020, Bloomberg, Reuters. Shulan, a Chinese city in the north-eastern province of Jilin bordering North Korea, was ordered to partially close some facilities after a surge in the number of coronavirus cases, The Straits Times reported.

Jilin ordered stringent curbs in Shulan city, closing all but most essential services and requesting residents to stay at home, the province said in a statement on its website. The city on Sunday (May 10) raised its virus threat alert level to high risk from medium, the province said.

There were 11 new coronavirus cases in Shulan on Saturday, local health authorities said on Sunday. The city is investigating the source of the infection after a police employee came down with Covid-19, the South China Morning Post said in a separate report Saturday.

On Sunday, China reported an increase in both new and asymptomatic cases.

There were 14 new coronavirus cases on Saturday, including those in Shulan, the largest daily increase this month for the nation, according to Bloomberg calculations based on official data.

As of Saturday, Jilin province has reported a total of 105 locally transmitted Covid-19 cases and 19 imported ones.

The total number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the country reached 82,901 as of May 9, while the total death toll from the virus stood at 4,633, it said.

State-run Xinhua News Agency reported Saturday that Chinese President Xi Jinping has expressed his willingness to provide support to North Korea in fighting the epidemic in a reply to a verbal message from North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

North Korea’s state media reported Sunday that its leader Kim received a message from Xi Jinping, pledging cooperation in “combating the pandemic.”

North Korea has so far claimed to have no coronavirus infections in the country, but reported more than 5,400 people were released from quarantine as of March.