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China evacuates thousands of residents along Myanmar border to stop Covid-19 spreading
- The authorities in Ruili in Yunnan order people living in Jiegao district to leave their homes and spend 14 days in a quarantine centre 100km away
- A local government source says the move is a ‘last resort’ because imported cases are helping to spread the disease inside China
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Thousands of people living near the Chinese border with Myanmar have been evacuated as the authorities try to stop the spread of Covid-19, according to government sources and residents.
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This move will create a temporary “no man’s land” zone behind newly erected barbed wire fences and watched by a network of surveillance cameras.
More than 5,000 people from Jiegao district in Yunnan province were asked to pack their belongings on Monday and Tuesday and board buses taking them to a group quarantine centre in the city of Mangshi, 100km (62 miles) away.
A government source in the city of Ruili, where the evacuation is taking place, said on Wednesday that the plan was for the residents to stay in the group quarantine centre for 14 days and “thoroughly screen everybody”.
02:03
Chinese city on Myanmar border in Covid-19 lockdown amid fears of the spread of Delta variant
Chinese city on Myanmar border in Covid-19 lockdown amid fears of the spread of Delta variant
He said the total evacuation of all the residents in the district had been completed, adding that the measure was the “last resort” because the district had been locked down since March but had continued to report local infections.
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