China scales up coronavirus testing, treatment in border areas

A COVID-19 epidemic control and prevention staff member checks the body temperature of a driver in the rain at a city entrance road in Suifenhe, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, April 20, 2020. (Photo by Zhang Tao/Xinhua)

The Chinese health authority has scaled up testing and treatment for COVID-19 infections in border areas as the country faces a rising risk of imported cases.

With an over 22,000-km land border dotted with 91 land ports, along with a large number of shortcuts and side routes, China faces a high risk of COVID-19 importation via its land border.

However, the medical service capacity in some border regions is relatively insufficient for the epidemic response, Guo Yanhong, an official with the National Health Commission (NHC), said at a press conference Tuesday.

The NHC has instructed the country's nine provincial-level regions with land ports to make targeted response plans in a bid to intensify containment efforts and get prepared for imported cases, Guo noted.