Wuhan, the centre of the coronavirus outbreak in China, has begun to
loosen its two-month lockdown on citizens as more countries issued new
restrictions to contain the pandemic.To get more news about
coronavirus china wuhan, you can visit shine news official website.
On Monday, small groups of residents in the central Chinese city
were leaving their residential compounds, going to grocery stores and
walking along the streets for the first time in weeks. At the weekend,
the first train arrived in the city ferrying more than 1,000 workers
from elsewhere in the province back to the city for work.
On Sunday, local authorities said residents could begin returning to
work if they did not have a temperature and could provide a green
health code, signifying their virus-free status as well as a certificate
from their employer. Officials said the city would be “gradually”
reopened and public transportation would resume.
Non-residents, those stranded in Wuhan since the stringent travel
restrictions went into effect on 23 January, could also begin applying
to leave the city, city authorities said.
Residents in Wuhan said only those from compounds deemed virus-free
were allowed to leave and that citizens were still wary of going out
onto the streets. “Everyone is being very careful,” said Iris Yao, 40,
who has been in the city for the last two months.
While the officially reported number of locally transmitted
infections in China has dropped dramatically over the last weeks,
imported cases continue to rise.On Monday, China reported 39 new cases
from the previous day, all of which were from imported cases, according
to the National Health Commission. On Sunday, China ordered that all
international flights to Beijing to be diverted to other cities where
passengers will be screened before continuing on to the capital.
Shanghai and Guangzhou have said they will begin testing all
international arrivals for the virus.
In another sign that normal life was starting to return in China,
there were reports of traffic jams in Beijing on Monday morning.There
have now been over 81,000 cases in China, and the death toll has reached
3,270.
The loosening of restrictions in Wuhan came as other nations
intensified their response to the virus. In the US, President Donald
Trump activated the National Guard in New York, California and
Washington state, three of the states hardest hit by Covid-19. Trump
said additional supplies will also go the three states, including extra
beds and facemasks.
Trump also said he had directed the Federal Emergency Management
Agency (Fema) to set up “medical stations” in those three states. He
said: Four large medical stations with 1,000 beds for New York, eight
large federal medical stations with 2,000 beds for California, and three
large federal medical stations and four small federal medical stations
with 1,000 beds for the state of Washington.”
The number of Covid-19 cases in the US has now gone past 33,000,
with 417 deaths. New York is a major hotspot, with 5% of cases
worldwide. Bill de Blasio, the mayor of New York city, on Sunday said
hospital supplies including ventilators, masks and surgical gloves would
be exhausted within 10 days.
On Sunday evening the city faced shutdown after governor Andrew
Cuomo ordered the closure of all non-essential businesses in the state.
Except for essential services, all New Yorkers were ordered to stay
indoors from 8pm Sunday evening.
The closure came as Democrats blocked an economic stimulus package,
claiming it favoured big business over the rights of workers. Trump has
faced growing anger over his response to the outbreak. The president has
tried to blunt criticism, saying help was on the way for states that
need it.
By the end of Sunday, nearly one in three Americans was under orders
to stay home as Ohio, Louisiana and Delaware became the latest states
to enact broad restrictions.
On the other side of the Pacific, New Zealand’s prime minister
announced the nation would go into lockdown on Wednesday for a month to
stem the spread of the virus. As cases in the country rose past 100,
Jacinda Ardern said she was not she was not willing to put the lives of
her citizens in danger.
“The worst-case scenario is simply intolerable, it would represent
the greatest loss of New Zealanders’ lives in our history and I will not
take that chance,” she said while bringing in measures that exceed
those in countries where the outbreak is more severe.
The nation was given two days to prepare for schools, businesses and community services to turn off the lights.
Ardern said it was established that community transmission was
happening in New Zealand and that, if it took off, the number of cases
would double every five days, with modelling advising the government
that tens of thousands of New Zealanders could die.
The Wall