The epidemic situation in Beijing is “extremely serious”, warned a spokesperson for the town hall on Tuesday, June 16, when around a hundred new cases appeared.
- In Beijing, 106 new cases have been identified in the past five days, including 27 in the past 24 hours.
- Containment measures have been taken in some places in the Chinese capital
- The screening campaign has been intensified
Beijing fears a second wave of the coronavirus epidemic and is engaged in “a race against time“, declared the spokesman of the town hall in front of the press. A resurgence of Covid-19 contagion has invaded the Chinese capital. 106 new cases have been identified in the last five days, including 27 new infections in the last 24 hours, according to figures from this Tuesday morning. On Monday, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported following “closely” the situation and discussed the possibility of sending additional experts in the coming days.
Mandatory street tests
To limit this epidemic recovery, the city has started to close certain places. Five markets are now fully or partially closed, including the gigantic Xinfadi wholesale market, one of the largest in Asia, where the virus was spotted last week. In total, nearly thirty residential areas near closed markets have been quarantined for 14 days, confining thousands of residents. All the sports and cultural sites, which had just reopened, also had to close. Primary and middle school students are allowed to resume classes but only from home.
The city’s daily screening capacity has been increased to 90,000 people. This massive screening policy put in place by the authorities partly explains this upsurge since the contaminations have never stopped in China. According to the China Internet Information Center, Beijing tested more than 76,000 people on Sunday alone. Now, testing is mandatory on the streets, which could fuel an increase in known cases in the coming days.
Two new cases in New Zealand
In New Zealand, the coronavirus has also made a comeback. This Tuesday, June 16, two new cases of contamination put an end to 25 days spent without new infection, announced the health authorities. These two new cases are the work of two people recently arrived from the United Kingdom who “are linked“, said the Ministry of Health. The archipelago has identified 1,154 confirmed cases on its territory for 22 deaths. All national restrictions have been lifted, including social distancing measures and restrictions on the number of people who can gather, without declaring the country virus-free. For now, however, only New Zealand nationals and their families are allowed to enter the archipelago, with some exceptions such as people with professional or humanitarian reasons, and everyone must undergo a fortnight at their own arrival in the territory.
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