Beijing: A Covid-19 outbreak on China’s porous border with Myanmar pushed new cases to the country’s highest level in six months, according to official data Wednesday, despite tightened border security.
The coronavirus first emerged in central China in late 2019, but a series of strict measures and harsh border restrictions have succeeded in mostly stamping out cases within its borders.
But on Wednesday, 57 new infections were reported — the highest daily tally since late January — including fifteen in the city of Ruili, next to Myanmar.
Twelve of those were Myanmar nationals, according to health authorities in Yunnan province, who said blamed the outbreak on the more contagious Delta variant, which was first detected in India.
Ruili is a major crossing point from Muse in neighbouring Myanmar, which has seen escalating unrest since a February 1 military coup, raising fears that people will flood across the border into China to escape the violence.
The…