China clamping down on research on Covid-19 origins: Report

China is, meanwhile, fighting hard to stop a second wave of coronavirus infections from countries with which it shares its borders.

China has restricted the publication of research papers on the origin of the coronavirus pandemic, CNN reported. It has referred to two notices published by Chinese universities where such restrictions have been mentioned.

People use face masks to protect against the spread of the new coronavirus as they walk through a public park in Beijing, on Tuesday. (AP Photo)

The notices quoted by CNN say that the universities have asked teachers to strictly manage the papers related to virus tracing. They also talk about adding an extra layer of vetting by a scientific research team.

The pages carrying the notices have now been deleted, the CNN further reported.

A Chinese reseacher quoted by the CNN said that it is a “coordinated effort” from the Chinese government “to control the narrative, and paint it as if the outbreak did not originate in China”. The researcher’s identity has not been revealed.

One of the universities quoted by CNN is the Fudan University in Shanghai. The other university is China University of Geoscience in Wuhan, reported CNN.

China is, meanwhile, fighting hard to stop a second wave of coronavirus infections.

Though the northeast border remains China’s priority, state media reported late on Monday that more than 100 people had been arrested in March for illegally entering China through its southwestern border in Yunnan province.

Russia has become China’s largest source of imported cases, with a total of 409 infections originating in the northern neighbour. Chinese people there should stay put and not return home, the state-owned Global Times said in an editorial Tuesday.

China’s northeastern border province of Heilongjiang saw 79 new cases of imported coronavirus cases on Monday, all Chinese citizens travelling home from Russia, state media said. Mainland China reported 89 new cases.

Heilongjiang’s provincial authority said on Tuesday that it had established a hotline to reward citizens as much as 5,000 yuan ($710) for handing over or reporting illegal immigrants.

China has reported 82,249 coronavirus cases and 3,341 deaths. It reported no new deaths on Tuesday.