Three Temporary Transports Corridors Between China, Russia To Open Next Week - Authorities

Fahad Shabbir (@FahadShabbir) Published February 15, 2020 | 11:10 AM

Three temporary transport corridors between the Russian Far Eastern city of Blagoveshchensk and the Chinese city of Heihe will open on Monday at the border checkpoint, which was closed due to the novel coronavirus outbreak, the Russian Amur Region authorities said

BLAGOVESHCHENSK (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 15th February, 2020) Three temporary transport corridors between the Russian Far Eastern city of Blagoveshchensk and the Chinese city of Heihe will open on Monday at the border checkpoint, which was closed due to the novel coronavirus outbreak, the Russian Amur Region authorities said.

In late January, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin signed an order to close the country's Far Eastern border to prevent the spread of the new COVID-19 virus to Russia. Russia also suspended a number of flights to and from China over the outbreak.

"As agreed with the Chinese side, a temporary passenger corridor will open next Monday, February 17, Wednesday, February 19, and Friday, February 21," the statement read.

The routes will operate from 2.00 a.m. local time (17:00 GMT), and the last buses from Russia and China will depart at 4.

30 p.m. (07:30 GMT).

All the people returning from China to Russia via the temporary routes will be thoroughly examined for any signs of viral disease, while Chinese nationals are set to be put under quarantine for 14 days, the authorities added.

After opening the Heihe-Blagoveshchensk corridor in early February, over 550 Russians have returned to their homeland. This was the fourth time that a temporary transport corridor has been created between the cities. The first was on January 28, allowing 239 Russians and 18 Chinese citizens with Russian residence permits to return from China to Russia.

So far, Russia has registered two coronavirus cases. Meanwhile, in mainland China, the virus has already resulted in 1,523 fatalities, with 66,492 people having been infected. Over 1,700 doctors have been infected with COVID-19, six of them have died.