CCP Virus Outbreak Hits China’s Mudanjiang Again, Third Time Schools Locked Down

A Chinese health worker carries out a nucleic acid test on a journalist covering events around the National People's Congress in Beijing, China on May 28, 2020. (Kevin Frayer/Getty Images)

A northeastern Chinese city has been placed under partial lockdown again following local authorities’ announcement of more CCP virus infections.

Residents who spoke with the Chinese-language Epoch Times revealed information about residential compounds that were fully sealed off to prevent the virus from spreading.

Mudanjiang city, located in Heilongjiang Province, announced 11 asymptomatic carriers in the past three days, after a period of several weeks in which no asymptomatic or confirmed cases were officially announced (asymptomatic cases are reported as a separate category in China).

The local train station, bus stops, and airport have suspended services, while students who returned to school were asked to go back home after spending just a few hours in class.

The CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, commonly known as novel coronavirus, first broke out in central China’s Wuhan city in late 2019, and spread across China and the world.

A staff member screens the body temperature of a passenger at the entrance of the Wuhan Railway Station in Wuhan, China, on May 28, 2020. (STR/AFP via Getty Images)

Mudanjiang, like much of the country, launched travel restrictions at the end of January to prevent the virus from spreading. Only one person from each household could go out every day with an entry permit. Schools were shut down and classes were held online.

On April 7, after a brief period in which most regions of China reported little to no new infections, high schools in Mudanjiang reopened for senior students. Other grades didn't reopen.

Soon after, a second-wave outbreak occurred in the city. All high schools were forced to close down again on April 20.

On May 25, senior students went back to high school again. However, at 10 a.m., two hours after reopening, schools announced closures again. All students packed up their belongings, lined up to take a nucleic acid test, and then went back home.

Asymptomatic Carriers 

The Heilongjiang provincial health commission announced on May 26 that two people were found to be asymptomatic carriers in Mudanjiang when they took nucleic acid tests recently. The commission didn’t explain why they took tests despite feeling no symptoms.

On May 27, the Mudanjiang Municipal Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced that the two are a married couple, surnamed Zhang and Yu. They operate a store selling home construction and decoration materials.

By the end of the day, the Heilongjiang commission announced five more asymptomatic carriers in Mudanjiang. The Mudanjiang CDC then announced that all five carriers were close contacts of Zhang.

The Mudanjiang river flows through the city of Mudanjiang, China, on July 6, 2006. (GOH CHAI HIN/AFP via Getty Images)

On May 28, the commission announced four more carriers, with the Mudanjiang CDC announcing that they're family members of asymptomatic carriers identified on May 26 and 27.

According to the announcements, the infections happened around a store reconstruction project. Zhang and Yu’s store supplied the materials, while the other people infected were the refurbished store owner, construction workers, and their family members.

Authorities have not yet announced who “patient zero” is in the outbreak.

Local Residents

Li (pseudonym) is a postal worker in Dong’an district in Mudanjiang. He told the Chinese-language Epoch Times on May 28 that he heard from his colleagues that a high school student tested positive during a nucleic acid test that was required for all students before returning to school. The test result came out on May 25, which caused all high schools to close that day—one day before local authorities announced the first two asymptomatic carriers.

Li also said that the owner of a restaurant close to the post office that he works for was also diagnosed with the CCP virus. “All people [who work or live] on this street were asked to take nucleic acid tests,” Li said.

The Epoch Times could not independently verify the information Li provided.

Ms. Huang is a taxi driver in Mudanjiang. She told the Chinese-language Epoch Times on May 28 that residential compounds where the asymptomatic carriers live have been fully locked down.

“Shuguang Xincheng has 107 residential buildings and is one of the largest residential compounds in Heilongjiang Province,” Huang said. “The whole compound was locked down on the evening of May 25.”

Huang said the compound still allows one member of each family to leave or enter once a day for shopping. But in the residential building where the asymptomatic carrier lives, no residents are allowed to leave the building.

Locals also shared a video on social media on May 25 in which workers were installing an iron bar to seal off a residential building at the Shuguang Xincheng residential compound.

Huang said the Lishui Lantian residential compound, where one of her colleagues lives, was also locked down.

Huang also shared a text message she received from a local residents’ messaging group, which notified people to avoid going to nine residential compounds and one neighborhood.

Comparing the notification and government official announcements, seven of the residential compounds are places that the announced asymptomatic carriers visited in the past 14 days. The other two residential compounds—Qingfu Sanqi and Steel Factory—were not mentioned in the official announcements.

The neighborhood of Rizhao street was not mentioned in government announcements, but matched with the area Li described, where a restaurant owner was infected.

Authorities haven't been forthcoming about the outbreak in Mudanjiang; The Epoch Times previously obtained leaked documents indicating that patients were becoming infected at local hospitals.

Chinese state-run media reported that intercity bus stations and the train station in Mudanjiang city were closed on May 27. Authorities didn't publicly announce these suspensions.

Local residents also reported that all flights to and from Mudanjiang were canceled on May 28. The Epoch Times searched Chinese travel agency websites and couldn't find any available flights or trains that go to Mudanjiang in the coming days.