Beijing, China’s capital city, has locked down 10 or more residential communities because they reported to have had 36 new infections in a single day.
What We Know:
- As states in the United States plan to reopen all their businesses, China starts to face their second wave of the virus. Health officials report that there were 57 news cases within a 24-hour span and Beijing is back on lockdown as virus cases continue to rise.
- The 36 new cases resulted from an outbreak at a highly populated Xinfadi wholesale food market. Xinfadi is the largest market in Beijing for fruit, vegetables, and meat.
- Chinese Vice-Premier Sun Chunlan has been overseeing China’s COVID-19 control since January and is taking “firm and decisive measures” to prevent the spread of the disease.
- As of June 12, 2020, Chinese health authorities recorded 11 new COVID-19 cases. Six of the 11 cases were local. They tested 517 people at the Xinfadi market and 45 tested positive.
- The new coronavirus was found on a chopping board used to handle raw imported salmon in the market, forcing all Wholesale markets to force close.
- Asian stocks went down and sporting events and group tours have also been suspended in hopes of stopping the spread of the virus.
- Yang Peng, an epidemiologist from the Beijing Centre for Diseases Prevention and Control has two theories: 1. “A possibility that frozen food had been contaminated by someone infected with COVID-19 and the low temperature had preserved the virus during transport.” 2. “A possibility that the virus had spread by an infected person coughing or sneezing in the market, affecting food items or the general environment, and enabling its spread among other people.”
The world is amongst the rise of the second wave of the coronavirus, as places like Arizona, Brazil, Utah, and Oregon suspend reopening their businesses and economies.
