Border police conduct non-contact customs clearance checkpoint inspection as part of epidemic prevention and control work at Erenhot border checkpoint in north China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region ), November 2, 2021. Photo: VCG

Goods purchased in Mongolia, which arrived in Erenhot City in north China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, tested positive for the coronavirus, local health authorities said in a notice on Thursday.

Five residents reported to Erenhot City’s epidemic prevention and control work team that they received goods they purchased in Mongolia. The packages were then sent for nucleic acid testing and returned positive results.

The city’s health authority has urged local residents to stop buying items from abroad at high risk of infection in light of the pressure from imported coronavirus cases.

The notice also asked those who received goods from high-risk countries since September 15 to report to local authorities for proper disposal.

Since the last outbreak, the province recorded a total of 163 locally transmitted cases on Wednesday, including 14 in the city of Erenhot and 144 in the China-Mongolia border town of Ejin Banner, which experts say may be the source of the virus in the latest outbreak.

The Chinese mainland reported 87 new local cases on Wednesday, bringing the total to more than 700 in just half a month since the first confirmed local cases were found in Xi’an, north China’s Shaanxi province. -western China).

Among the confirmed cases, 497 of those infected have direct or indirect links to the outbreak in Inner Mongolia or neighboring Gansu province in northwest China.

world times