Beijing coronavirus outbreak: city raises
emergency level and grounds hundreds of flights
All movement in and out will be strictly controlled as
dozens more test positive in new flare-up
Lily Kuo in
Beijing
Wed 17 Jun
2020 15.53 BSTFirst published on Wed 17 Jun 2020 05.41 BST
China’s
capital has raised its emergency level as dozens of new coronavirus cases
emerged and residents were barred from any “unessential” travel outside Beijing
following a new outbreak of the virus that is yet to be brought under control.
Hundreds of
flights were cancelled, schools suspended and all residential compounds ordered
to reinstate strict screening after authorities raised the city’s four-tiered
Covid-19 emergency response level from three to two on Tuesday evening. All
movement in and out of the city will be strictly controlled, officials said at
the briefing.
Authorities
reported 31 new cases of the virus in Beijing as of Tuesday, bringing the total
number of infections to 137 over the past six days.
The new outbreak,
linked to a sprawling wholesale food market in the south-eastern district of
Fengtai, has spread to nine of the city’s 17 districts. On Tuesday, at least
1,255 inbound and outbound flights were cancelled, according to state media.
Chen Bei, the deputy secretary general of the Beijing
municipal government, said: “Beijing faces serious danger of imported cases and
spread in the city and the country.”
Officials
stopped short of ordering businesses and factories to shut under the new emergency
level, which had been lowered just two weeks ago. Authorities called on
employers to continue regular operations but encourage remote working and ask
employees to stagger their arrivals at work.
All primary
and secondary schools were ordered to stop attending classes on Tuesday, while
kindergartens and universities were also suspended. Officials also ordered that
traffic to parks as well as indoor public spaces like museums and libraries be
limited.
The Xinfadi
seafood market, which also sold produce and meat, as well as two other markets
in nearby districts have been shut after newly-confirmed cases. Twenty-seven
neighbourhoods have been designated as medium risk and instituted temperature
checks and registration while a neighbourhood near the Xinfadi market has been
deemed high risk and sealed off, with residents ordered to quarantine at home
and undergo tests for the virus.
Cases in
Hebei, Liaoning, Sichuan and Zhejiang provinces have been linked to the cluster
in Beijing, prompting other cities to impose quarantine measures on travellers
from Beijing. As of Tuesday, Macau is requiring all arrivals from Beijing to
undergo 14 days of medical observation. Residents in Beijing from medium or
high-risk areas are not allowed to leave the capital while those from other
districts must complete a test for the virus within seven days of their
departure.
The new
outbreak comes as the country was returning to normal after largely containing
the virus. Before the new outbreak, the capital – which had imposed strict
travel restrictions and quarantine measures – had not recorded a new domestic
case in almost two months.
Some
officials have suggested the virus may have been brought in from outside the
country after local media reported traces of the virus had been found on
chopping boards used for imported salmon sold at the Xinfadi market.
At the
briefing on Tuesday evening, health officials said the outbreak appeared to be
linked to human-to-human transmission and contaminated goods. Shi Guoqing, a
deputy director at China’s centre for disease control and prevention, said on
Tuesday evening there was no evidence that salmon was the host or intermediate
host of the outbreak.
India’s
death toll rose by more than 2,000 on Wednesday, as the hard-hit country
struggled to contain a ballooning health crisis that has overwhelmed hospitals.
Authorities said the sharp increase in fatalities to 11,903 was mainly due to
Mumbai and Delhi updating their figures.
Germany
urged its citizens in India to “seriously consider whether a temporary return
to Germany or another country with an assured healthcare system makes sense”.
The foreign
ministry said: “Case numbers are still rising strongly. This increases
considerably the risk of infection.”
People with
the coronavirus or other serious medical needs have “no or very little chance
of being admitted to hospitals. This increases considerably the health risks of
a stay in India”, it added.
The French
embassy in Delhi also sent a warning to its nationals saying hospitals in the
city were “more and more saturated”. It said people should stay at home unless
there was an emergency “or it is to reach an airport for a flight to Europe”.
Air France
and the German carrier Lufthansa have organised a number of special flights
from Delhi to Europe this month for people trying to leave the country.
India is
the fourth worst-hit country in the world, with more than 354,000 infections,
official figures show. Experts say the real number of cases is likely to be
much higher and have called for greater testing.
Agence
France-Presse contributed to this report
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