Working staff wearing protective suits wait at the entrance to Suifenhe port. (Photo: Global Times)

Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province has assigned 2,850 guards to the 3,000-kilometer China-Russia border in the province to address the pressure of imported cases, especially illegal crossings, given the closure of all passenger channels between the two countries and the worsening of the epidemic in Russia.

Heilongjiang's border inspection force recently beefed up controls, having investigated 36 cases and punished 45 people. About 2,400 ships were inspected and 2,850 border guards deployed, the National Immigration Administration said on its WeChat account on Tuesday. 

The province has established more than 100 temporary police checkpoints and inspection stations along the border to check waterways and land channels to crack down on illegal behavior. The hard-hit border city Suifenhe has seen its police force doubled.

Besides, local authorities have established online chat groups to promote border regulations and policies, and encourage residents to protect the border's safety. Such activities have been conducted online, and about 30,000 police officers have also participated in on-the-ground promotions in the past month. 

Wu Yonghui, a deputy head of the School of Public Health of Harbin Medical University, told the Global Times on Wednesday that strict border management is a most direct and effective way to contain imported cases that enter via illegal crossings. 

The expert said that Suifenhe and other border cities are able to prevent a new wave of imported infections with such methods.

Local health authorities said on Wednesday that there are no more overseas returnees under medical observation in Suifenhe, marking a temporary victory over the pressure from imported cases from Russia since late March.

Suifenhe was categorized as a low-risk area starting on Wednesday. All 125 county-level regions in the province will be designated as low risk starting on Thursday, after one county in the provincial capital Harbin downgraded the level. 

All eight border cities in Heilongjiang have released guidelines for rewarding people who report illegal crossing activities to authorities, Shanghai-based news site The Paper reported. The provincial government said in mid-April that a reward of 3,000 yuan ($423) will be offered for useful information and a maximum of 5,000 yuan will be given to those who apprehend an illegal suspect. 

Analysts noted that increasing public awareness and engaging local residents who are familiar with the border environment will facilitate the control work. 

From health authorities to local residents, the province has gained experience in the battle against imported infections and people are ready to guard against another potential wave from Russia, with an improving resident-police cooperation mechanism, Wu said.   

Russia confirmed 10,559 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, bringing the total to 165,929, the seventh-largest number in the world. 

A national stop-work order and Moscow's lockdown have been extended to May 11, The Moscow Times reported.