Passengers wearing face masks disembark from a train at Suifenhe Railway Station, a city in Heilongjiang Province bordering Russia, as the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues to spread in the country, China, April 11, 2020 . REUTERS / Huizhong Wu

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BEIJING, Dec 11 (Reuters) – China has ordered some border cities to step up vigilance to COVID-19 with measures such as mandatory testing for travelers to prevent clusters caused by viruses arriving from abroad.

Since mid-October, locally transmitted symptomatic cases have risen to more than 2,000, with several small northern cities on the border with Russia or Mongolia being hardest hit, as health resources are scarcer there than in large cities.

“There have been several local outbreaks in China recently, all caused by viruses imported from overseas through cities with ports of entry,” the government said in a statement, citing the weaknesses of the local areas in monitoring and failure To enforce action.

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Individuals intending to depart from border towns with overland ports of entry must provide evidence of negative test results within 48 hours of departure, the notice said, excluding those from cities with ports of entry linked to Hong Kong or Macau.

Arrivals in such cities must complete at least one COVID-19 test, added the notification from the national authorities responsible for COVID-19 control.

The test measures will run until March 15 next year.

In November, the Beijing authorities urged people not to travel unnecessarily to the Chinese capital from counties with overland ports of entry.

Some cities with ports of entry could have narrow curbs in “buffer areas”, but less strict measures outside, according to the statement on Saturday.

The measures aim to reduce the disruption of livelihoods in areas that are dependent on cross-border trade, the national health authority said in a statement published with the announcement.

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Reporting by Roxanne Liu and Ryan Woo; Editing by Clarence Fernandez

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