New threat of Covid-19 cases
PANDEMIC ALARM: INFECTIONS HIT CHINA, NEW ZEALAND
More than eight million people have been infected with virus worldwide.
More than two dozen new coronavirus cases in China and the first New Zealand infections in almost a month yesterday underlined the immense challenges still ahead in containing the deadly pandemic, even as some EU nations reopened their borders to fellow Europeans.
More than eight million people have now been infected with the virus worldwide since it first emerged in China late last year – with more than 435 000 deaths – and the tolls are still surging in Latin America and South Asia.
Caseloads have declined across Europe, however, and governments are keen to ease lockdowns that have saved lives but devastated economies – despite experts warning that restrictions will be required until a vaccine or effective treatment is developed.
The latest reminder of the threat came yesterday from China, which had largely brought its outbreak under control, as 27 new infections were reported in Beijing, where a new cluster linked to a wholesale food market has sparked mass testing and neighbourhood lockdowns.
“The epidemic situation in the capital is extremely severe,” Beijing city spokesperson Xu Hejian warned, as the number of confirmed infections soared to 106.
And New Zealand reported its first cases in almost a month – two recent arrivals from Britain – prompting authorities to start tracing their movements.
The South Pacific nation had declared last week that it had ended community transmission of the virus.
While these cases have caused concern about the possibility of a full-blown resurgence in countries that have suppressed their outbreaks, the disease is gaining a worrying momentum in other regions with massive populations.
Known infections in India have crossed 330 000 and authorities already stretched by the Covid-19 outbreak are bracing for the monsoon season, which causes outbreaks of illness such as dengue fever and malaria every year.
With more than three decades as a doctor in India’s chronically underfunded public healthcare system, Vidya Thakur – medical superintendent at Mumbai’s Rajawadi Hospital – is used to managing “heavy burdens”.
But now, she said: “Covid-19 has left us helpless... and the monsoon will make things even more difficult.”
In Latin America, countries are struggling to contain the disease while trying to ease the crushing economic blow dealt by widespread lockdowns and social distancing measures.