BEIJING (Reuters – China has nearly 250 COVID-19 cases locally reported since the outbreak started 10 days ago. There are many COVID-19 infections occurring in remote areas along the porous border of China’s northwest.

China’s Oct. 26th count of local cases was 50, the highest total since Sept. 16 according to official data.

It is much smaller than the number of cases in other areas. This is still a small number compared to the 1,200 cases that were reported in China during its July-August epidemic and the over 2,000 cases recorded during January’s last winter.

However, the increase in number of these cases and their geographic distribution has alarmed the local authorities. They have reintroduced complex travel restrictions as well as those affecting the tourism and catering industries.

China said that COVID-19 is its biggest obstacle to the hosting of February’s Winter Olympics. Officials suspect that the virus was imported from abroad and caused this current outbreak.

Infectious diseases are less common in richer cities, such as Beijing. They can quickly test and quarantine potential cases. Smaller border communities, which face a greater risk from infections coming in from abroad and have less resources than the larger cities, are more vulnerable to severe and long-lasting disruptions due to China’s strict tolerance for COVID-19.

Ejina Banner (NASDAQ) was a remote administrative section on China’s border to Mongolia that saw 8 million people in 2019. This is due to attraction such as the drought-resistant forest, which would turn golden yellow in October.

The latest epidemic has also caused severe damage to the 36,000 inhabitants of Ejina. According to a local official, nearly 10,000 tourists have been unable leave Ejina since the outbreak. Nearly 50% of these visitors are over 60.

“[Ejina Banner]Fan Mengguang said that Inner Mongolia, where Ejina is located, has had a decrease in the number of medical staff and virus controllers.

Fan explained that Ejina, despite being large and sparsely populated makes it difficult to secure its borders.

Ruili is a Yunnan southwestern provincial, which was rocked this year by numerous domestic outbreaks, and has received the harshest curbs China has ever seen.

Ruili stated Wednesday that anyone who wants to leave the city for any reason, other than those for essential reasons must remain in quarantine at centralised facilities at least seven days prior to departure.

Ruili, a major transit point for Yunnan is where illegal immigrants can cross.