Working staff wearing protective suits wait at the entrance to Suifenhe port. (Photo: Courtesy Cao Jie)

After the last man to be put in isolation boarded the train to return to his hometown in Southeast China, the number of overseas returnees under quarantine in the small border city of Suifenhe in Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province dropped to zero on Wednesday, marking the temporary end to the pressure from imported cases from Russia since the end of March. 

The man, surnamed Wei, who returned to China on April 3, has now become the last overseas arrival to be released from the isolation site in Suifenhe. According to People's Daily, Wei tested negative for COVID-19 several times during his quarantine in Suifenhe. However, he was only removed from isolation after his upper respiratory tract infection was cured. 

Wei told the media that it was his first time arriving in Suifenhe in such a special way. Although most of his time in the city was spent in isolation, he said he felt the warmth and friendliness from the local people and welcomed them to visit his hometown in Fuzhou, Fujian Province. 

The People's Daily said that health authorities in Suifenhe and Fuzhou have contacted each other, sharing information on Wei's condition. Wei also informed his community and signed a letter of commitment guaranteeing his health status. 

Wei will undergo home isolation in accordance with the regulations of Fuzhou, reports said. 

The anti-COVID-19 guiding group of Heilongjiang announced on Tuesday that it was downgrading the risk level of Suifenhe to low from middle starting Wednesday. All 125 county-level regions in the province will be marked as low-risk regions from Thursday. 

Heilongjiang recorded zero domestically transmitted cases and zero new imported cases on Tuesday, and there are still 48 cases and 19 asymptomatic infections within the province, the Health Commission of Heilongjiang Province said on Wednesday.