Chinese city near North Korea raises virus alert: Report

Shulan, a Chinese city in the northeastern province of Jilin bordering North Korea, increased its coronavirus warning alert level to high risk from the medium, the Xinhua News Agency published.

There were 11 new coronavirus cases in Shulan yesterday, local health authorities stated on Sunday. The city is examining the source of the infection after a police employee came down with Covid-19, the South China Morning Post spoke in a separate report Saturday.

On Sunday, China reported an increase in both new and asymptomatic cases. There were 14 new coronavirus cases on May 9, including those in Shulan, the largest daily increase this month for the nation, according to Bloomberg calculations based on official data. As of Saturday, Jilin province has recorded a total of 105 locally transmitted Covid-19 cases and 19 imported ones.

Chinese President Xi Jinping expressed his willingness to provide support to North Korea in fighting the epidemic in reply to a verbal message from North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, state-run Xinhua News Agency reported Saturday.