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‘Imported case behind Covid-19 cluster’ in north China’s Heihe city
- Health officials say genome sequencing indicates Heihe cases not linked to those in Inner Mongolia and Gansu
- Tourism official in Inner Mongolia dismissed for failing to contain outbreak’s spread
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A cluster of coronavirus infections in a city in northeastern China was caused by an imported case and is not related to other outbreaks in the country, according to Chinese health authorities.
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Wu Liangyou, deputy director of the National Health Commission’s (NHC) disease control bureau, said on Saturday that genome sequencing indicated that a series of new cases in Heihe, Heilongjiang province, were not linked to others Inner Mongolia and Gansu province, which were thought to have been spread by tourists.
Wu said the new Heihe cases were detected by screening , meaning the virus was already spreading in the community.
China is trying to stamp out a rash of cases in line with its zero tolerance policy but is under pressure as infections rise in other countries, according to NHC spokesman Mi Feng.
“There have been cases in 14 provinces in just 14 days,” Mi said.
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Ge Yanhong, also from the NHC, said severe cases accounted for a higher share of the total than before, with 40 per cent of the confirmed cases over 60 years of age. She did not elaborate on the number of severe cases.
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