Good coronavirus news in Heilongjiang

The city of Suifenhe and the Nangang district of Harbin, Heilongjiang province, have been categorized as low-risk regions for COVID-19 epidemic control based on the current situation, a statement from the provincial government said on Wednesday.

The last medium-risk region, Linkou county in Mudanjiang city, will be downgraded a lower level starting on Thursday, meaning that all 125 counties and county-level districts in the province will be categorized as low-risk regions, the statement said. Residents of Suifenhe can enter and leave their communities normally with permits and health codes.

Wearing face masks and undergoing temperature checks are mandatory, the city's COVID-19 epidemic control department announced on Wednesday.

Previously, all residential communities in Suifenhe had been locked down, and each family could send one member outside for purchases every three days.

As of Tuesday, the province has confirmed 386 imported cases, while 261 patients recovered and were discharged from the hospital, according to the Heilongjiang Health Commission.

All the cases involved Chinese citizens, 380 of whom entered the Chinese mainland via the highway port of entry in Suifenhe after flying from Russia.

The entry port was temporarily closed on April 7, and the local government enforced strict pandemic-control measures with all the returnees as well as local residents.

The province reported no new cases or imported cases on Wednesday. As of Tuesday, the province had a total of 48 cases involving local transmission and 19 local asymptomatic cases.