China Closes Border With Vietnam As COVID Cases Soar

Officials of the Pingxiang City in China have established more checkpoints to prevent illegal entry to the country of Vietnamese after Hanoi reported 15,000 COVID-19 infections on Thursday, Holly Chik wrote for the South China Morning Post (SCMP).

Photo Insert: The border between Vietnam and China, taken from Lào Cai, Vietnam

China, which abides by a zero COVID-19 policy, has thrown a virtual gauntlet along its southwestern border to try to stop a spillover in coronavirus cases from Vietnam.

However, the epicenter of the pandemic was Wuhan City in China, which only reported the cases in late December 2019 even cases had been reported as early as October 2019.

To keep infections at bay, authorities in the region of Guangxi have cracked down on illegal entry, detained smugglers helping illegal border-crossers, set up extra checkpoints along the border, and launched mass testing for residents.

The city of Pingxiang added 51 checkpoints to the 96 it already had and started 24-hour security patrols along its 97km (60 mile) border with Vietnam, local media reported.

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The border between Vietnam and China, taken from Lào Cai, VietnamThe border between Vietnam and China, taken from Lào Cai, VietnamThe border between Vietnam and China, taken from Lào Cai, VietnamThe border between Vietnam and China, taken from Lào Cai, Vietnam