Workers wearing face masks move bed parts into a makeshift hospital which has been converted from an office building to treat patients with the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Suifenhe, a city of Heilongjiang province on the border with Russia, China April 10, 2020. Picture taken April 10, 2020. China Daily via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. CHINA OUT.

BEIJING/SHANGHAI (Reuters) - China has reduced the number of people crossing its borders by 90% as part of its efforts to contain the spread of the coronavirus, an immigration official said on Monday.

Speaking at a briefing, Liu Haitao, an official with the National Immigration Administration, said the number of cases was still on the rise in the countries along China’s borders.

China was working to limit all non-essential crossings, but it remained a huge challenge to control the large number of mountain passes, ferries and roads along the country’s long border, he added.