SHANGHAI: The northeastern Chinese border province of Heilongjiang reported 79 new imported coronavirus cases on April 13, state broadcaster CCTV said on Tuesday.

All the new cases were Chinese citizens who travelled back from Russia, the report said. Of the total, 65 were originally recorded as asymptomatic cases.

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

“Chinese people have watched Russia become a severely affected country...This should sound the alarm: China must strictly prevent the inflow of cases and avoid a second outbreak,” the paper, which is run by the Communist Party’s People’s Daily, said in an editorial.

Mainland China reported 89 new cases.

Heilongjiang’s provincial authority said on Tuesday 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. Mongolia also confirmed 13 new cases, all imported from Russia.