China’s capital has raised its crisis level as many new coronavirus cases rose and occupants were banished from any “unessential” travel outside Beijing following another flare-up of the infection that is yet to be managed.
Beijing’s airports canceled more than 1,200 flights and schools in Beijing have closed again on Wednesday as authorities rushed to contain a new coronavirus outbreak linked to a wholesale food market.
Mass testing of 90,000 people to stem the spread of the coronavirus has been conducted, as the city reported 31 new COVID-19 cases, pushing the tally to 137. Fears about the second wave of infections in China continues to grow which has largely brought its outbreak under control.
The new outbreak, linked to a sprawling wholesale food market in the south-eastern district of Fengtai, has spread to nine of the city’s 17 districts. Chen Bei, deputy secretary-general of the Beijing Municipal People’s Government said: “Beijing faces the danger of imported cases and spread in the city and the country.”
Meanwhile, the steroid dexamethasone has been found to save the lives of one-third of the most serious COVID-19 cases, according to trial results by the University of Oxford, hailed as a “breakthrough” in the fight against the disease.
Also, more than 8 million people have been confirmed to have the coronavirus around the world. Nearly 4 million have recovered, while at least 438,000 have died, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. The US, Brazil and the UK have reported the most deaths.
Several provinces were quarantining travelers from Beijing, where all schools which had mostly reopened have been ordered to close again and return to online classes. “The epidemic situation in the capital is extremely severe,” Beijing city spokesman Xu Hejian warned Tuesday.
Until the new outbreak, most of China’s recent cases were nationals returning from abroad as Covid-19 spread globally, and the government had all but declared victory against the disease.
China’s Center for Disease Control and Prevention said Monday that the virus typically found in the Beijing outbreak was a “major epidemic strain” in Europe.
Authorities have so far banned group sports, ordered people to wear masks in crowded enclosed spaces and suspended inter-provincial group tours in response to the outbreak.
As of Tuesday, the overall confirmed cases in China had reached 83,265, including 252 patients who were still being treated, with seven in severe condition. Altogether, 78,379 people have been discharged after recovery, and 4,634 people had died of the disease, the NHC said.
Reporting by Winsala Gbotemi, Staff Writer EGM.
Originally published at https://www.egmanalytics.com on June 17, 2020.
