Photo: VCG

Epidemiological investigations point to a cargo flight from Russia as the infection origin of Haikou's recent second confirmed case, a cargo porter working at Haikou Meilan International Airport, according to a press conference on COVID-19 control and management held in South China's Haikou on Monday.

The epidemiological investigation into close contacts was launched after Haikou, capital city of South China's Hainan Province, reported a second COVID-19 infection on Thursday, following the latest first case reported on August 1. 

The virus gene sequencing in the second confirmed COVID-19 patient shows it is related to genomes of imported cases from Russia, so it was initially determined that the infection originated from a cargo flight from Russia, an expert from the local CDC said at the press conference.

Both have been transferred to the designated hospital for quarantine and treatment.

By the end of Sunday, no new cases had been reported after nucleic acid tests were conducted on more than 533,000 residents in Haikou.

The city hasn't reported any confirmed local cases since the end of February 2020.  

Global Times