Surge of COVID-19 in Beijing and City’s Response
Source：New York Times
From：Taiwan Trade Center Chicago
Update Time：2020/07/10
Although the global outbreak of COVID-19 originated in China, reports say that the country has begun to palliate the outbreak, specifically in Beijing. The capital city has calmed the disease, though they still anticipate new, yet fewer, new cases to arise. This recent wave of the virus began June 11, after Beijing had seemed to recovered from their February struggles with the virus. Reports say this recent wave has been traced to Xinfadi, the southwestern food market.
Beijing authorities responded quickly, living up to their resilient reputation, hoping to prevent the damage that many cities have faced since the initial outbreak. Nonetheless, after June 11th, the city was immediately returned to a Level 2 state of emergency. This prompted local authorities to enforce soft lockdowns to limit travel and contain the virus. Officials have reported that new cases, due to the surge, will continue until similarly to the trend that the city experienced in early 2020.
Regarding policy, Beijing has implemented strict travel limitations. Neighborhoods have been labelled based on risk factors which determine residents’ freedom to travel. Higher risk areas have been banned from leaving Beijing, and lower risk regions require Covid-19 testing in order to travel outside of the city. This has led to hundreds of thousands of tests for Beijing residents and specifically for the 200,000 people that visited Xinfadi.
On the other side of these policies, those wishing to enter the city are also required to undergo a test and potentially isolation. In addition, flights, public transportation, and most other types of transport have also been limited, and surrounding cities have enlisted quarantine for anyone coming from Beijing.
As officials investigate further, data shows that this outbreak has spread outside of Beijing to smaller surrounding towns. Lockdowns are being put in place currently in areas like Hebei due to this. As Beijing deals with this surge, the city hopes that their precautions and new policies will curb the spread and return the city to normal function.
Source：https://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2020/06/18/world/asia/18reuters-health-cornavirus-china.html