The China-North Korean border city of Mudanjiang has detected 19 additional asymptomatic cases of COVID-19, Mayor Wang Wenli said Monday, raising fears of a potential surge just over 170 kilometers from the DPRK.

The results came as China reckons with “imported cases” from Russia that first centered on the small border city of Suifenhe in April, which quickly spread to other cities in Heilongjiang and Jilin Provinces, which border North Korea.

The outbreak represents a higher risk to the DPRK than previous outbreaks reported as taking place along the Sino-DPRK frontier: Mudanjiang is the next stop inside