HARBIN — The city of Suifenhe, at the China-Russia border in Northeast China's Heilongjiang province, has seen the number of confirmed novel coronavirus (COVID-19) cases continue to rise.

As of midnight April 11, Suifenhe had reported 194 confirmed cases and more than 100 asymptomatic coronavirus carriers. Experts said the number may continue to increase.

"The proportion of COVID-19 patients has been very high at between 10 percent to 20 percent in each batch of inbound personnel," said Yu Kaijiang, head of the local medical treatment team. "The ratio in some batches was even higher," he added.

Official data showed that so far a total of 2,497 people have entered Suifenhe from Russia.

Ge Hong, deputy director of the Heilongjiang Provincial Health Commission, said they have been monitoring the body temperature of inbound personnel who are put under immediate isolation every day, and he believed the number of patients might rise further in the coming days.

According to Yu, all severely ill COVID-19 patients were cases that had developed fever or cough in Russia and returned after a long journey.

The Suifenhe port, a major land checkpoint at the border, has shut down its passenger inspection channel and tightened checks on the freight inspection channel.

All personnel entering the border from Suifenhe are required to undergo nucleic acid tests and be quarantined in designated facilities.