A health worker collects a swab sample from a resident for COVID-19 testing at Mengmao village of Mengmao township, Ruili city, southwest China's Yunnan province, on March 31, 2021. (CHEN XINBO / XINHUA)

BEIJING - Schools in Ruili, southwest China's Yunnan Province, have been suspended since Wednesday and residents have been urged to stay home following reports of new COVID-19 cases.

Students and teachers are required to undergo home quarantine and classes will continue on online platforms

According to the city government at a press briefing on Thursday, students and teachers are required to undergo home quarantine and classes will continue on online platforms.

The city's stock of medical materials is sufficient, the government said, adding that a further 30 days' worth of personal protective equipment including masks, protective suits and gloves will arrive before April 3.

The supply of daily necessities is also stable, said Gong Yunzun, the city's Party chief. Seven large supermarkets in Ruili can meet the demand for the next two weeks and their stocks can be replenished within three days.

Gong said that home delivery services have been arranged for those under home quarantine in high-risk neighborhoods. Other residents have been urged to stay at home.

The first round city-wide nucleic acid testing was completed Thursday morning. A total of 235,991 samples have been collected in a single day.

A total of 1,320 close contacts of the confirmed or asymptomatic cases were traced by Thursday morning and are under medical observation at eight quarantine hotels.   

The city reported six new COVID-19 cases and 23 asymptomatic cases on Wednesday, following the six confirmed cases reported the day before.

Wednesday also saw 10 newly reported imported cases around the country, the National Health Commission said on Thursday in its daily report. No new suspected cases and deaths related to COVID-19 were reported. 

The mainland also reported 10 new imported cases, the National Health Commission said

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In the meantime, another nine COVID-19 patients were discharged from hospitals after their recovery, the commission said, adding that there were 187 patients still receiving treatment, two of whom were in severe condition.

9.57 million vaccinated in Beijing 

In another development, the Chinese capital Beijing has administered coronavirus vaccines to more than 9.57 million people, local authorities said on Thursday.

The city government said that by Wednesday, a total of 15.39 million doses of domestically developed COVID-19 vaccines had been administered.

Beijing began vaccinating willing elderly residents in good health in mid-March.

Foreign nationals in the city can now also apply to receive vaccines, according to the municipal foreign affairs office.

 5,300 imported cases

By the end of Wednesday, a total of 5,300 imported cases had been reported on the mainland. Among them, 5,128 had been discharged from hospitals following recovery, and 172 remained hospitalized. No deaths had been reported among the imported cases.

By Wednesday, the mainland had reported a total of 90,217 confirmed cases, 85,394 recoveries and 4,636 deaths.

There were three suspected COVID-19 cases on the mainland as of Wednesday.

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By the end of Wednesday, 11,467 confirmed COVID-19 cases, including 205 deaths, had been reported in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR), 48 cases in the Macao SAR, and 1,030 cases, including 10 deaths, in Taiwan.

A total of 11,095 COVID-19 patients in the Hong Kong SAR had been discharged from hospitals after recovery, 48 in the Macao SAR, and 981 in Taiwan.