New Beijing outbreak shows need for vigilance
— European counBERLIN tries reopened borders Monday after a three-month coronavirus shutdown, although international visitors are still being kept away and there was uncertainty over whether many Europeans will quickly embrace travel outside their home countries.
Reopening continued in Mexico and Brazil despite cases climbing in the two largest nations in Latin America, where authorities struggled to handle the pandemic’s effect on already-weak medical systems.
The need for constant vigilance came into sharp focus as China, where COVID-19 first emerged late last year, rushed to contain an outbreak in the capital of Beijing.
The head of the World Health Organization said more than 100,000 confirmed cases of coronavirus have been reported globally each day in the last two weeks, and countries that have curbed transmissions “must stay alert to the possibility of resurgence.”
Tedros Adhanom Ghe- breyesus noted that it took over two months to reach 100,000 reported cases, now a daily norm. Each day, nearly three-fourths of the new cases come from 10 countries — mostly in South Asia and the Americas, he said.
Ge r many a nd Fr a nce dropped bord er checks nearly two weeks after Italy opened its frontiers. Greece welcomed visitors Monday with passengers on flights from other European coun- tries not having to undergo compulsory coronavirus tests.
The European Union’s 27
nations and other European states aren’t expected to start reopening to visitors from outside the continent until at least the beginning of July and possibly later.
Spain allowed thousands of Germans to fly to its Bale- aric Islands without a 14-day quarantine in a pilot program designed to help authorities gauge what’s needed against possible virus flare-ups.
Slovenia lifted travel restrictions with Italy, and the mayors of two towns on opposite sides of the border jointly removed a traffic sign that barred movement from one to the other. The towns of Nova
Gorica in Slovenia and Gori- zia in Italy are closely linked culturally and economically.
Mexico City residents were free to drive without restrictions, and subway and bus stations that had been closed resumed service Monday as the city of 9 million contin- ued its gradual return.
Mexico City’s graduated reopening is based on hos- pital occupancy levels. As of Saturday, the capital and the surrounding state had 74% of their hospital beds occupied.
Construction, auto manufacturing, mining, bicycle sales and beer production already had been allowed to resume.
President Andrés Manuel López Obrador encouraged Mexicans to get out of the house and get the economy moving again.
“Health is the most important thing, but at the same time the economy, well-being, the return to coexistence, har- mony and freedom,” López Obrador said as he began his second weeklong road trip. “We can’t let fear overwhelm us.”
In Beijing, where an outbreak was traced to a mar- ket that supplies much of the city’s meat and vegeta- bles, thousands lined up for tests. Authorities confirmed 79 cases over four days in what looks to be the largest outbreak since China largely stopped its spread at home more than two months ago.
Tests were administered to workers at the Xinfadi market, anyone who had visited it in the past two weeks, or anyone who had come in contact with either group. The mar- ket is Beijing’s largest whole- sale food market, prompting inspections of fresh meat and seafood in the city and else- where in China.
Authorities also locked down the neighborhood around a second market, where three cases were confirmed. In all, 90,000 peo- ple are affected in the two neighborhoods in the city of 20 million.
China had relaxed most of its controls after the ruling Communist Party declared victory over the virus in March.
“We must continue to take decisive measures to defend against outside cases and internal resurgences, and mobilize all units to take responsibility,” said Xu Hejian, of the Beijing government information office.