BEIJING, February 11. /TASS/. The situation in northeastern China’s Harbin amid the novel coronavirus outbreak is improving and the amount of cargo on the Russian-Chinese border is increasing, Vladimir Oschepkov, the Russian Consul General there, told TASS.
"Fears ran high over the new type of pneumonia last week, when the Heilongjiang province was the worst in China as far as the rising number of new infection cases went. The growth of the number of those becoming infected hit 200% per day. Now the situation has stabilized," the diplomat said.
"Local authorities tightened the screws and everything was cordoned off in the city and traveling in personal vehicles was prohibited. Now the situation has stabilized and gradually the bans are being lifted. Things have become calmer and no noticeable anxiety is being felt," he noted.
Nevertheless, panic is still in the air here, Oschepkov cautioned.
The good news is that cargo services between Russia and China have been restored, he stressed. "While border crossings for passengers are not working, trucks are coming in both directions. For example, they are carrying soy from Blagoveschensk, in Russia’s Far East, under contracts. Vegetables are arriving in Russia," the diplomat noted.
Passenger services have been suspended since February 3, while cargo traffic did not stop even on holidays during the peak of the coronavirus outbreak. On average, 15 cargo trains go through the Manzhouli railway station per day.
"Although the border crossings are not working every day, except for Manchuria, Russian nationals [not many of them are left here] can leave the country calmly without facing any obstacles," the diplomat assured.
The effort to bring Russians back home from the Heilongjiang province is "nearly over," he said. "Some 80% of those who used to live or temporarily stayed here have left."
On December 31, 2019, Chinese health officials reported a cluster of cases of acute respiratory illness to the World Health Organization in Wuhan, an economic and industrial metropolis with a population of 11 million. The virus - 2019-nCoV, otherwise known as the novel coronavirus - was identified on January 7, 2020. Apart from China, over 24 other countries, including Russia, have reported confirmed coronavirus cases. According to the latest data, the overall number of people who contracted the novel coronavirus in China has exceeded 43,000, more than 1,000 people have died and over 4,000 have recovered.
The World Health Organization declared the new coronavirus outbreak a public health emergency of international concern, describing it as an epidemic with multiple locations.