Countries in Europe, Asia see surge in Covid-19 cases; some Chinese cities enter lockdown

As India looks at leaving behind Covid-19 curbs, except wearing of masks and social dancing norms, from March 31, China, France and the United Kingdom are among the countries that are seeing a surge in cases. Some of these countries, especially China, have announced lockdowns will be brought back and some have already issued restrictions on the movement of their citizens.
China
The country, which saw the earliest cases of Covid-19 in December 2019 and brought the spread of the infections under control March 2021, is now witnessing a new surge, leading to stricter restrictions and lockdowns in some parts.
China’s top steelmaking city Tangshan implemented a temporary lockdown on Tuesday to avoid further cases of Covid-19 as infections surged, the local government said in a statement. Residents should not leave their houses or buildings except for tests or emergencies pending further announcement, the government was quoted as saying Reuters. The city halted public transportation on March 19 and implemented traffic controls on March 20.
A delivery worker passes food to a woman over the barriers of an area under lockdown amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, in Shanghai. (Reuters)
Blanket closures have also got the cities of Xian and Changchun to a halt as the less deadly but more infectious Omicron variant spread among the population. Since March 11, Changchun’s nine million people have only been allowed out once every two days to buy food, Al Jazeera reported.
Jilin, the second-biggest city in Jilin province, locked down about 4.5 million inhabitants for three days from Monday night, local authorities announced. The northeastern city of Shenyang had also announced that its 9 million residents, who had already completed three rounds of testing, would have to go through another three rounds from March 24 through to March 30.
Meanwhile, Shanghai came under strain as cases rose, putting to test its ‘slicing and gridding model’, which involves screening neighbourhoods one one. Authorities, however, have not announced any plans of imposing a comprehensive lockdown in the city of 26 million. Shanghai’s locally transmitted asymptomatic infections surged to a record 1,582 on March 24, up from 979 a day earlier, but just 29 new symptomatic cases were recorded, up from 4.
A volunteer disinfects the area as it snows during the COVID-19 lockdown in Changchun in northeast China’s Jilin province. (AP)
US
The United States imposed a lockdown between March to April 2020, with the number of Covid-19 cases past 1.4 million and 87,000 deaths. However, Americans may see lockdowns or restrictions again, with Dr Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, telling CNN that a look at the recent surge in cases in the UK owing to the BA.2 variant, the opening of society and waning immunity from vaccination is a situation for the US to watch carefully.
South Korea
South Korea, recovering from last week’s virus peak, has relaxed some curbs. The country added 3,18,130 new Covid-19 infections on Sunday, according to Yonhap News Agency. Authorities said the country witnessed the peak last week when the daily cases rose to 6,20,000, even as the highly transmissible BA.2 or “stealth omicron” subvariant keeps concerns about an uptick in cases alive.
UK
Days after the UK observed a minute-long silence on Wednesday on the second anniversary of the country’s first lockdown, data from the Office for National Statics revealed that Covid-19 cases have climbed a million in a week. Swab tests suggested about 4.3 million people are infected with Covid-19 as of the week ending March 19, up from 3.3 million the week before, the BBC reported.

The Living with Covid plan remains in place in England, with those testing positive for Covid-19 no longer legally required to self-isolate. Masks will no longer be needed to be worn in most public places. In Wales, masks will no longer be required in shops or on public transport, while face coverings will still be required in some public settings in Scotland and Northern Ireland, the BBC reported.
Germany
Germany is a long way from declaring a “freedom day” from Covid-19 as cases continue to mount, the country’s health miner said. The Robert Koch Institute (RKI) on Friday announced an additional 296,498 coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours, and 288 deaths, while also reporting another record incidence rate of 1,756.4 infections per 100,000 people over a one-week period, according to DW.
German lawmakers voted last week to relax most federal rules on wearing masks and testing. But Health Miner Karl Lauterbach (SPD) urged the country’s 16 states to ensure social dancing and other safety measures in virus hotspots. The country had seen a lockdown in March 2020, which was extended till April 18.