BLAGOVESHCHENSK, January 28. /TASS/. Over 160 Russians and six Chinese nationals have arrived in the Russian city of Blagoveshchensk from China through a temporary corridor, the Amur region’s government said in a statement on Tuesday.
"A total of 169 people have arrived in Blagoveshchensk through a temporary corridor set up at the Heihe checkpoint. No signs of infection were detected in them," the statement reads.
Russian and Chinese authorities earlier agreed to establish a corridor in order to allow Russian tourists leave China through the Heihe chechpoint, which had been closed down due to the coronavirus outbreak in China.
According to head of the Russian consumer watchdog’s office in the Amur region Olga Kurganova, all those who arrived in Russia underwent medical examination. "As many as 169 people have arrived so far, including 163 Russians and six Chinese nationals. No signs of infection were detected in them, but one person has been taken to the Blagoveshchensk City Clinical Hospital with a possible non-infectious decease," she said.
The Amur region has been put on high alert. Governor Vasily Orlov called on the region’s residents to refrain from travelling to China for the time being.
On December 31, 2019, Chinese authorities notified the World Health Organization (WHO) about the outbreak of a previously unknown pneumonia in the city of Wuhan, central China. On January 7, Chinese experts identified the 2019-nCoV coronavirus as the cause of the disease.
According to recent data, over 4,500 cases of patients infected with the virus and 106 deaths have been confirmed in China. Coronavirus cases have also been reported in Australia, France, Germany, Japan, Malaysia, Nepal, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand, Vietnam, and the United States.