Mass virus testing in Beijing after new cluster triggers lockdowns

ISLAMABAD: Beijing carried out mass testing for the coronavirus on Sunday after a new outbreak in the city that prompted travel warnings across the country amid fears of a resurgence of the disease.

The deadly contagion had been brought largely under control in China through strict lockdowns that were imposed early this year but have since been lifted, international media reported

But a fresh cluster linked to a wholesale food market in the capital has sparked widespread alarm and raised the spectre of a return to painful restrictions.

The National Health Commission (NHC) reported 57 new infections on Sunday, of which 36 were local transmissions in Beijing, all linked to the Xinfadi market. Another two domestic infections were in northeastern Liaoning province and were close contacts of the Beijing cases.

The 19 other infections were among Chinese nationals returning from abroad.

Liaoning was among several provinces to advise residents against travelling to Beijing due to the new outbreak — along with cities such as nearby Tianjin and several in Hebei province, which surrounds Beijing.

Some local authorities said people entering from Beijing would have to quarantine, state media reported.

In the capital, lockdowns have been imposed on a very small part of the city that includes 11 residential estates near the market which supplies most of the city´s fresh produce.

Officials said Sunday they planned to carry out virus tests on 46,000 residents in the area surrounding the market and had set up 24 testing stations. Everyone who works at Xinfadi also has to undergo testing. So far 10,881 people have been tested in the area with another eight cases diagnosed on Sunday. They were not included in the NHC´s tally earlier in the day that covered the previous 24 hours.

The novel coronavirus has killed at least 433,965 people since the outbreak emerged in China last December. At least 7,944,967 cases of coronavirus have been registered in 196 countries and territories.

New coronavirus cases and hospitalisations in record numbers swept through more US states, including Florida and Texas, as most push ahead with reopening and President Donald Trump plans an indoor rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Alabama, Florida and South Carolina reported a record number of new cases for the third day in a row on Saturday, which many state health officials partly attribute to gatherings over the Memorial Day holiday weekend in late May.

Oklahoma reported record new cases for the second day in a row, and Alaska did so for the first time in weeks. Arizona and Nevada reported a near-record number of new cases.

In Louisiana, which had been one of the earlier virus hotspots, new cases were again on the rise with over 1,200 - the most there since May 21.

Nationally, there were over 25,000 new cases reported on Saturday, the highest tally for a Saturday since May 2, in part due to a significant increase in testing over the past six weeks.

Perhaps more troubling for health officials is many of these states are also seeing record hospitalisations - a metric not affected by increased testing.

Arkansas, North Carolina, Texas and Utah all had a record number of patients enter the hospital on Saturday. In South Carolina, 69% to 77% of hospital beds are occupied, depending on the region.

While Utah’s governor announced last week that most of the state would pause its reopening, no state is talking about a second shutdown as they face budget shortfalls and double-digit unemployment. Many went ahead with reopenings before meeting government infection rate guidelines for doing so.

Fears that a second wave of infections is happening - or that states failed to curb their first wave - prompted health officials to plead with the public to wear masks and avoid large gatherings.

Trump still plans to hold his first campaign rally since early March on Saturday in Tulsa, although those attending will have to agree not to hold the campaign responsible if they contract COVID-19.

About a third of the record new cases in the state came from Tulsa County, according to state data. The Tulsa Health Department on Friday said the outbreak was linked to indoor gatherings. Hospitalizations and the percent of tests coming back positive have been steady in the state.

India’s federal government said on Sunday it will provide New Delhi’s city authorities with 500 railway coaches that will be equipped to care for coronavirus patients, after a surge in the number of cases led to a shortage of hospital beds.

The coaches will increase Delhi’s capacity by 8,000 beds, home minister Amit Shah said on Twitter after a meeting with the capital’s chief minister.

The government will also ramp up testing in the city, especially in containment zones, conduct a door-to-door health survey of residents and provide sufficient supplies of oxygen cylinders and ventilators, he said.

India is the fourth-worst affected country in the world, with cases steadily increasing. It reported a record single-day jump in cases on Sunday, adding nearly 12,000 confirmed infections and taking the total to more than 332,000.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi imposed a nationwide lockdown in late March that has since been loosened.

With more than 22,000 active cases, Delhi is the third-worst affected after the states of Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu. The chief minister of Delhi, which has a population of 20 million, has said that the number of infections in the city are expected to cross more than half a million by the end of July.

Shah said a committee was examining providing 60% of private hospital beds in Delhi at low cost for coronavirus patients, and fixing the cost of testing and treatment. He added that a report would be submitted on Monday.

Meanwhile, Russain President Vladimir Putin said on Sunday that Russia was emerging from the novel coronavirus epidemic with minimal losses, having handled it better than the United States where he said party political interests got in the way.

With 528,964 confirmed cases, Russia has the third-highest number of infections after Brazil and the United States.

Its official death toll stands at 6,948, much lower than in many other countries, including the United States which has had over 115,000 deaths. The veracity of Russian statistics has sometimes been the focus of fierce debate however.

“We are working rather smoothly and emerging from this situation with the coronavirus confidently and, with minimal losses... But in the (United) States that is not happening,” Putin told state TV.

Russia’s political system had handled the crisis better than its US counterpart, said Putin, because authorities at federal and regional level had worked as one team without disagreements unlike those in the United States.

“I can’t imagine someone in the (Russian) government or regions saying we are not going to do what the government or president say,” said Putin.