60,000 samples taken for virus testing in city on Myanmar border

Ruili, Yunnan province, has taken samples from 60,000 of its 210,000 residents to test for the novel coronavirus, the local government said on Tuesday night.

The free citywide testing campaign was launched at 8:30 am on Tuesday in response to the detection of two COVID-19 cases on Sunday among illegal immigrants in the city, which lies on the border with Myanmar.

Gong Yunzun, Party chief of Ruili, said 256 sample collection sites had been set up in urban areas and 183 of them had been put into use by Tuesday night. About 800 medical workers are working on sample collecting and testing.

The city has tracked down and quarantined 201 close contacts of the two confirmed cases, and nucleic acid test results on 190 of them have come back negative.

All 1,745 residents in the residential community where the infected pair lived tested negative for the virus. The community was put under lockdown on Saturday.

In response to complaints that local pork prices had spiked following reports of the two confirmed cases, Jin Hong, head of the local market regulation bureau, said it had halted operations of one pork seller for price gouging.

The local government said supplies of daily necessities in the city are sufficient, their prices are stable and the bureau has stepped up efforts to monitor prices of foods and anti-epidemic equipment.

Stocks of medical and protective equipment for medical institutions in the city are sufficient to last for 10 days, and the local government has purchased another 30 days' worth of equipment, which is expected to arrive before Friday.