Border police conduct a contactless inspection of a customs clearance post as part of the epidemic prevention and control work at the border checkpoint in Erenhot, North China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, on November 2, 2021. Photo: VCG

Goods purchased from Mongolia, which have arrived in Erenhot City in North China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, tested positive for coronavirus, local health authorities said in a notice on Thursday. 

Five residents reported to Erenhot City's epidemic prevention and control work team about having received goods they had bought from Mongolia. The packages were then sent for nucleic acid testing, and returned positive results. 

The city's health authority urged local residents to stop buying items from abroad with high infection risks in light of pressure from imported coronavirus cases. 

The notice also asked those who have received goods from high risk countries since September 15 to report to local authorities for proper disposal. 

Since the latest epidemic outbreak, the province has registered a total of 163 domestically transmitted cases by Wednesday, with 14 in Erenhot City and 144 in the China-Mongolia border city of Ejin Banner, which experts believe could be the source of the virus in the latest epidemic surge. 

The Chinese mainland reported another 87 new local cases on Wednesday, bringing the total to over 700 in just half a month since the first local confirmed cases were found in Xi'an, Northwest China's Shaanxi Province. 

Among the confirmed cases, 497 of the infected have direct or indirect links with the epidemic in Inner Mongolia or the neighboring Northwest China's Gansu Province. 

Global Times