(Minghui.org) Editor’s note: It was reported that Heilongjiang Province has been experiencing an explosion of cases of the CCP virus, the novel coronavirus named after the Chinese Communist Party. Below is a letter submitted by a reader in Heilongjiang Province, which revealed the situation in Linkou County.

Linkou County is in the eastern part of Heilongjiang Province. It’s under the jurisdiction of Mudanjiang City. It connects three cities, Mudanjiang, Qitaihe, and Jixi, and is about 60 miles from each city.

In recent weeks, all the malls and shops have been closed in Linkou, with only supermarkets still open. All taxis and private transportation services were stopped as well. The streets are mostly empty.

Most residential buildings are locked down, with security personnel guarding the entrances. Each household was allowed to have one person go out to do grocery shopping every two days. 

I often see ambulances in the neighborhood, with the medical staff wearing protective suits. Sometimes, police and staff from residential committees came and checked if there were people returning from other provinces or countries living here.

I heard that most hotels in Linkou have been used to house people under quarantine, including several country government officials and staff members from the local train station, county construction bureau, and cultural center. It’s not clear whether they have tested positive or just had close contact with patients carrying the virus.

One woman with the last name Wu, in her 60s, had gone to the Ankang Hospital in Mudanjiang with her husband to treat his liver disease. That hospital has been designated to receive coronavirus patients. She contracted the virus in the hospital, but because she didn’t have any symptoms, she wasn’t aware of it herself.

She returned to Linkou from Mudanjiang in late March, and stayed at her mother’s place for a few days. During that time, she attended several family gatherings. 

She tested positive around April 20, as did many of her family members, including her mother, daughter, brother-in-law, and an eight-month-old baby. 

Most of them have been sent to Mudanjiang for treatment. I recently heard that her mother had already passed away. But the authorities are trying to cover it up, and are preventing people who know their situation from revealing the information to others.

I also heard from a friend that a patient with the symptoms of the virus in Diaoling Town, Linkou, was taken to Mudanjiang in an ambulance before the Chinese New Year in late January. It could mean that the outbreak had already started back then. But that news was censored as well.