Chinese city on Myanmar border vows COVID curbs despite disruption (updated)

Emperor Culture

29/10/2021 10:32

(Recasts with detail from Chinese border city of Ruili)
    BEIJING, Oct 29 (Reuters) - A Chinese jade trading hub on
the border with Myanmar vowed strict control over domestic
outbound travel to halt the spread of COVID-19, sustaining some
of the toughest zero-tolerance policies in China despite
economic costs.
    After suffering intermittent waves of outbreaks, Ruili has
imposed some of the most stringent domestic travel restrictions
in China, including self-funded quarantine of at least seven
days at centralised facilities for those wishing to leave the
city for non-urgent matters.
    "People are going through a very difficult time," the city's
Communist Party said in a statement, citing Ruili's Vice Mayor
Yang Mou at a news conference. 
    "It is necessary to continue with a strict policy on leaving
the city to make sure ... the virus control situation in the
whole province and in the whole country are not affected," Yang
said.
    The controls on departures were temporary and would be
adjusted according to the epidemic situation, Yang said, without
giving a timeline. 
    As parts of the world reopen and prepare to live with
COVID-19, China is clinging to zero-tolerance, priding itself
for largely stamping out the virus within its borders while the
disease rages on in other countries and new variants surface.
    Illegal crossings of infected people from Myanmar are a
problem for Ruili's zero-virus goal, which is not helped by a
lack of natural barriers such as mountains, Yin Zhongde, another
vice mayor of Ruili, told the briefing.
    Since Oct. 1, Ruili has reported two domestic symptomatic
cases and 17 asymptomatic infections, while more than 20% of
people recently returning from abroad had tested positive,
Ruili's mayor Shang Labian was quoted as saying. 
    
    ECONOMIC DISRUPTIONS
    Ruili's once robust gemstone sector, which has employed more
than 80,000 people in a city of fewer than 300,000 residents,
has been disrupted by the virus curbs.
    The city had said four clusters in the past had been linked
to the sector, with the gathering of vendors and workers
undermining efforts to curb the virus, prolonging a lockdown in
Ruili's urban areas during a July outbreak.
    To contain the outbreaks, Ruili has banned delivery of jade
and live-streaming on the internet to promote sales of the
semi-precious stone that is mined in Myanmar.
    Dai Rongli, a former vice mayor of Ruili, on Thursday
lamented on social media the locking down of communities and
closure of businesses that had worn out residents and called for
help from Beijing.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2RO029
    But current mayor Shang, in an interview with state-backed
The Paper, said the city did not need outside help for now.
    Some of the data in Dai's social media post was outdated,
Shang maintained. 

    <^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
China's COVID-hit city of Ruili    https://tmsnrt.rs/2ZGHW6O
Surge in locally transmitted COVID-19 cases in China    https://tmsnrt.rs/3bnH7SW
    ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>
 (Reporting by Ryan Woo and Roxanne Liu; Editing by Himani
Sarkar)
 ((Ryan.Woo@thomsonreuters.com;))