Harbin Bars Non-locals From Residential Areas

Harbin, capital of Heilongjiang province, has banned non-locals and non-locally registered vehicles from entering residential zones, according to local state media.

The northeastern city is grappling with a coronavirus outbreak due to infected Chinese travellers arriving from Russia.

Harbin has already required that people arriving in the city from outside China or entering the city from key epidemic areas be isolated, local state media said.

This comes as mainland authorities on Wednesday reported 30 new coronavirus cases, 23 of which were so-called imported cases, up from 11 a day earlier.

The National Health Commission said in a statement the number of new asymptomatic patients, who are infected with the virus but not showing symptoms, also rose to 42 from 37 a day earlier.

A total of 82,788 coronavirus cases have been reported to date on the mainland, while the number of deaths remained unchanged at 4,632. (Reuters)