Is China suffering a second wave of coronavirus?
China reported five new cases of Covid-19 infections on Tuesday, and six on Monday. The government has enforced strict measures to curb a new outbreak.
China has placed several cities in the north eastern provinces of Jilin and Liaoning under strict lockdown after fresh outbreaks of coronavirus during the past week. The city of Shulan, with a population of around 700,000, situated about 400 kilometres from Vladivostok to the east and about the same distance to the North Korea border, has been sealed off.
China, who had appeared to be over the worst of the coronavirus crisis meanwhile Wuhan, which accounted for more than 80% of the country’s confirmed 4,638 deaths from Covid-19 has been relatively free of the virus since the end of April. Shulan was closed on Monday to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus following new cases which authorities believe are mostly imported from neighbouring Russia by returning workers.
Schools closed, no public transport, borders closed in Jilin
By Tuesday, a cluster of 34 new cases of Covid-19 had been recorded in Jilin province and adjacent province Liaoning. Authorities have moved to contain the new outbreak, placing over 100,000 citizens under rigid quarantine – public transport has been stopped, schools are closed and one person only from each household is allowed to go out every two days to buy essentials such as a food, cleaning products and medicine. Entry to stores is only permitted by QR code on smartphone health code apps which can confirm that customers, all of who must have been tested for Covid-19, are not carrying the virus.
Similar restrictions were put in place across most of China at the end of January just before New Year and unlike some parts of Europe, stay-at-home orders were obediently observed. It shows how terrified China is of a second wave of infections and of how fearful its citizens are of protecting their own families. Politically, socially and economically, China can ill afford a second wave of Covid-19 infections as Xi Jinping’s government know only too well.
Four Covid-19 deaths in China this week
Yesterday, China recorded five new coronavirus cases - down from six on Monday. Four of the new cases were local transmissions and one was an imported case (a traveller from Inner Mongolia). The total number of Covid-19 infections in China as of Wednesday morning stands at 84,063 while the death toll rose by four during the past couple of days to 4,638.