As the world breathes the first whiffs of normality in over two years, and cities open up with people returning to work and children to schools, China is staring at another spate of lockdowns. Beijing locked down a city of 17.5 million people on Sunday, restricting access by suspending services amid fears of another possible coronavirus outbreak.
China, where the first coronavirus cases were detected in late 2019 in the central city of Wuhan, has reported a total of 4,636 deaths on the mainland out of 1,15,466 confirmed cases since the pandemic started. According to Worldometer, China on Monday reported 1436 cases in 24 hours. Its numbers are low compared with some countries, but authorities say they are ready to lock down communities if one case is found.
While China has imposed lockdowns, Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam said on Monday there were no current plans to further tighten strict social distancing measures as authorities battle to contain a deepening coronavirus outbreak. Lam said there was limited room to tighten further, with the global financial hub already having put in place the strictest measures since its Covid strategy began in 2020.
