China Puts 400,000 People In Lockdown After Second Wave of Coronavirus hits Beijing

With the end of the three months lockdown period, the majority of the countries have reopened nearly all businesses, schools, and workplaces including China, which has successfully controlled the coronavirus in the first epicenter – Wuhan. However, in the past few weeks, there have been various reports of new coronavirus cases, which has prompted the Chinese government to impose a second lockdown in order to stop further transmission.

More recently, around 400,000 people living near the city of Beijing, which had spikes of coronavirus in the past two weeks, are to live in quarantine as there have been reports of new cases in Hubei. The second lockdown in the Hubei province in the Anxin county is now expected to get even stricter.

In accordance with the new rules, only one person per household will be able to leave home once a day in order to buy essential items such as food. Overall, the total number of people who tested positive for the coronavirus infection is eighteen. Health experts have linked the new coronavirus cases to the surges in Beijing, which is what essentially paved the way for lockdown in the province.

Even though the second wave of coronavirus is spreading throughout Beijing and is expected to affect people in areas nearby, including Hubei, health officials state that the new cases will soon be under control. Since Anxin county is not heavily populated, it is far easier to control the spread of the virus from Beijing to Hubei.

On the other hand, the spikes in new coronavirus cases in Beijing is likely to be more challenging. In accordance with experts, the virus in the city is likely to be linked to the popular Xinfadi meat market.

The Xinfadi meat market in Beijing is estimated to be twenty times larger than that of Wuhan, which was linked to the first cases of the coronavirus infection. The first cases in Beijing were all of the people who either visited the market or worked there, as reported by Chinese media.

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In addition to the Xinfadi market, another meat market for seafood, also located in Beijing was also closed subsequently as a number of people who tested positive for coronavirus infection had also visited it.

Although the Anxin county is located very near to Beijing, it can be at a very high risk of having a second and also possibly deadlier wave of the coronavirus. Therefore, health officials have stated that stricter lockdown measures are fundamental in stopping further coronavirus transmission.

In the city of Beijing, there have been approximately three hundred new coronavirus cases, all of which were diagnosed after mid of June after having no cases at all for more than fifty days straight. Therefore, people have been instructed to not leave the province or travel in order to cut down the risk of coronavirus spread.

The time period of the second lockdown for stopping new coronavirus cases is not yet known or announced. The majority of the health experts have predicted that it may last for several weeks and possibly as long as it takes to eradicate the virus from Beijing.