Months after the super power boasted it had defeated the virus it has been forced to lift emergency warning levels in Beijing under fears of a “mutant strain”.
China raised its emergency warning to its second-highest level and cancelled more than 60 per cent of the flights to Beijing on Wednesday amid a new coronavirus outbreak in the capital.
It was a sharp pullback for the nation that declared victory over COVID-19 in March and a message to the rest of the world about how tenacious the virus really is.
New infections spiked in India, Iran and US states including Florida, Texas and Arizona as authorities struggled to balance restarting economic activity without accelerating the pandemic.
European nations, which embarked on a wide-scale reopening this week, looked on with trepidation as the Americas struggled to contain the first wave of the pandemic and Asian nations like China and South Korea reported new outbreaks.
Chinese officials described the situation in Beijing as “extremely grave.”
“This has truly rung an alarm bell for us,” Party Secretary Cai Qi told a meeting of Beijing’s Communist Party Standing Committee.
The latest Beijing outbreak started at a major whole sale food market, Xinfadi, where a “mutant strand” of coronavirus was reportedly found on a chopping block used to cut up salmon.
After a push that began June 14, the city expects to have tested 700,000 people by the end of the day, said Zhang Qiang, a Beijing party official.
About half of them were workers from the city’s food markets, nearby residents and close contacts.
The party’s Global Times said 1,255 flights to and from the capital’s two major airports were scrapped by Wednesday morning, about two-thirds of those scheduled.
Since the virus emerged in China late last year and spread worldwide, there have been more than 8.1 million confirmed cases and at least 443,000 deaths, according to a tally kept by Johns Hopkins University.
Experts say the true toll is much higher, due to the many who died without being tested and other factors.
The US has the most infections and deaths in the world, with a toll that neared 117,000 on Wednesday, surpassing the number of Americans who died in World War I.
Arizona reported a daily high of nearly 2,400 new infections for a total of more than 39,000, while in Texas, Gov. Greg Abbott insisted the state’s health care system could handle the fast-rising number of new cases and hospitalisations.
Tuesday marked the eighth time in nine days that Texas set a new high for COVID-19 hospitalisation at 2,518. State health officials reported 2,622 new cases.
“It does raise concerns, but there is no reason right now to be alarmed,” Abbott said.
Texas began aggressively reopening its economy May 1. Abbott noted that Texans may have become lax in wearing masks or practising social distancing and urged people to stay home as much as possible.
Canada and the US extended to July 21 a deal to keep their border closed to non-essential travel, with many Canadians fearing cases arriving from the US
As the US struggles with the first wave of the virus, other countries where it was widely thought to be under control faced disturbing developments. In South Korea, authorities reported 43 new cases amid increased public activity.
Authorities said 25 of them came from around Seoul, where hundreds of infections have been linked to nightclubs, church gatherings, e-commerce workers and door-to-door salespeople. Twelve of the new cases came from international arrivals.
Not long after declaring itself virus-free, New Zealand saw a re-emergence of the virus.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern assigned a top military leader to oversee the border quarantines after what she described as an “unacceptable failure” by health officials.
Two New Zealand citizens who had returned from London to see a dying relative were allowed to leave quarantine before being tested. After the women tested positive, New Zealand began tracing their potential contacts to ensure the virus is contained.
Their cases raised the spectre that international air travel could ignite a new surge of the virus just as countries seek to boost devastated tourism industries.
China also limited other travel around the capital, keying in on hot spots
Beijing had essentially eradicated local transmissions until recent days, with 137 new cases since last week
On Wednesday, the city of 20 million raised its threat level from 3 to 2, cancelling classes, suspending reopenings and strengthening requirements for social distancing.
China had relaxed many lockdown controls after the Communist Party declared victory over the virus in March.
India, with the fourth-highest caseload after the US, Brazil and Russia, added more than 2,000 deaths to its tally after Delhi and Maharashtra states included 1,672 previously unreported fatalities.
Its death toll of 11,903 is now eighth- highest in the world. India has reported 10,000 new infections and more than 300 deaths each day for the last two weeks.
The BBC’s correspondent in China has warned that the communist government may be in the midst of a second coronavirus cover up, as a massive police and medical response to a new cluster in Beijing doesn’t tally with the reported number of cases.
The Chinese government has locked down the capital city, instituted travel bans, and is rounding up residents, putting them on buses and placing them in quarantine:
The footage was shot by activist Jennifer Zeng, who claims that seven hotels in the city were requisitioned by the government to be used as quarantine sites.
However, Beijing only reported 27 new infections yesterday, and 106 in the past five days, prompting many to wonder, just what the hell is going on here.
More footage shows hundreds of people lining up outside Youan hospital in Beijing for virus screening:
Massive amounts of fruit and vegetables have been discarded after Beijing shut down Xinfadi wholesale market:
The BBC’s Stephen McDonell noted that the Chinese government is either being “super cautious”, or they are again not giving accurate figures on the new infection rate.
Additional #Beijing#coronavirus prevention measures: hundreds of thousands of people who've been inside the #XinFaDi Market (plus several other smaller markets) in the Chinese capital in recent weeks are to report themselves and effectively commence home quarantine. #covid19
#Beijing Govt spokesman Xu Hejian described the city's #coronavirus situation as “extremely severe”. That either means the relatively low infection tally doesn't reflect the facts on the ground or they're being super cautious, trying to mobilise the population to stop the spread
In terms of new #coronavirus measures: #Beijing residents from “high risk” groups are not allowed to leave the city (I guess that means living near/ contact with XinFaDi Market) . Taxis and Didi cars are also not allowed to leave the city limits.
From late Tuesday night presser... Nobody to leave #Beijing without a clear #covid19 test in the last 7 days. (But understandably limited test spaces are being prioritised for high risk people). Residents in medium/high risk ategories linked to #XinFaDi market no leaving at all.
Practically speaking it’s now very difficult for anyone to leave #Beijing. The Chinese capital is going into a #coronavirus prevention bubble. 1255 flights were cancelled this morning. That’s 70% of all flights in and out of #Beijing. #China#coronavirus
[More from late last night presser]... all #Beijing schools closed again from today. Residents in high-risk areas not allowed to leave housing compounds. All compounds/hutongs only residents allowed in. Businesses/manufacturing continuing for now but work from home encouraged.
So that’s from 50+ days with zero #coronavirus cases in #Beijing to 137 official* infections with symptoms in 6 days and the Chinese capital is now being effectively cut off from everywhere else. Four other provinces have reported cases emanating from #Beijing’s #XinFaDi Market.
Owners of the market that was shut down in Beijing are reportedly claiming that the ‘more infectious’ strain of the virus came from Europe via some dodgy salmon, however the Chinese Centre for Disease has said there is no evidence to support the claims.
If this fresh outbreak is ‘very severe’ as authorities are claiming, then where are the infected?
Will Europe move to block flights coming from China this time, or once again allow transmission of the virus unhindered?
One more intriguing theory of what is happening comes from professor Steve Tsang of the School of Oriental and African Studies, who has contended that China is using Covid-19 to ‘divide and conquer’ Europe.
“China is essentially trying a divide and rule approach to the EU,”Tsang told the Daily Express, adding “Some of the EU countries are being enticed to be much closer to China and to break away from European norms. And that is a serious problem.”
China has sent coronavirus aid to countries that have not received it quickly enough from the EU.
“The pandemic hasn’t helped but the problem with the pandemic is not so much in eastern European countries as it is with Italy.” Tsang added.
Since 2012, China has heavily invested in the infrastructure of 17 eastern and central European countries, including the likes of Hungary and Greece, via the Belt and Road Initiative.
Many see this as a way of exerting dominance in global trade. With the emergence of the Covid-19 pandemic, and the lax response of the EU in helping its member states, China has everything to gain.
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