Chinese city threatens to reignite coronavirus

An 87-year-old city resident spread coronavirus to 78 others.

By Aaron Sull, World Israel News

Despite record low coronavirus infections in mainland China over the past few weeks, one city is threatening to reignite the spread of the deadly disease, reports Reuters.

Dine-in restaurants in Harbin, a northeastern Chinese city of 10 million, were ordered to close on Saturday after the city saw its coronavirus cases jump from 55 in mid-April to over 500 in May.

Prior to these measures, government officials mandated a 28-day quarantine order for anyone arriving overseas and a 14-day lockdown on residences housing confirmed and asymptomatic cases.

“We deeply blame ourselves. We had an inadequate understanding of epidemic prevention and control,” said Wang Wentao, the deputy secretary of the provincial party committee, as quoted by Reuters.

One man in particular played a big role in spreading the virus.

An 87-year-old city resident surnamed Chen had been in direct contact with a plethora of hospital staff and family members since being diagnosed with coronavirus on April 2. Three weeks later, health officials determined that he spread coronavirus to 78 others.

Government officials believe the city’s coronavirus spike is being caused by returning residents from neighboring Russia.

Russia’s coronavirus crisis response center on Sunday said 134,687 Russians are infected with coronavirus and 1,280 had died as a result of it.

During a Thursday remote broadcast on the state-run Rossiya 24 television channel, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin announced that he was entering quarantine after testing positive for coronavirus.

Last week, Russian President Vladimir Putin warned that an uphill battle to curb the virus’s spread is on the horizon.

“Ahead of us is a new stage, perhaps the most intense stage of the fight against the epidemic,” Putin said during a televised briefing on April 28. “The risks of getting infected are at the highest level, and the threat, the mortal danger of the virus persists.”

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