- The Covid-19 pandemic has killed at least 434,214 people worldwide since China officially reported the disease in December. After practically containing the virus in March, the country is experiencing a resurgence of contamination.
- Idem in Italy where Rome counts more than 120 cases resulting from two “clusters”. In Portugal, Lisbon has established mini-containment. China and India are also putting in place new restrictions to try to avoid a possible new Covid-19 outbreak.
- As France reopens its borders on Monday, should we be worried about a resurgence of the epidemic?
After months of isolation within their borders, Europeans found on Monday the possibility of traveling to their neighbors due to the decline in the Covid-19 epidemic. The new coronavirus has however resurfaced in China, in Beijing. While this epidemic revival arouses fear of a "second wave", 20 Minutes takes stock of the new "clusters" that are swarming in Asia and Europe and the procedures put in place to try to quickly break the chain of contamination .
Where did the new sources of Covid-19 contamination appear?
Backing off in Europe, the new coronavirus re-emerges in Beijing (China) where the epidemic situation is considered "extremely serious" by the authorities. More than a hundred people have been infected since last week in this city of more than 20 million inhabitants.
India is emerging from more than two months of draconian confinement, but the human toll continues to increase. Health authorities fear an aggravation of the health crisis with the great monsoon, which devastates the nation of 1.3 billion inhabitants from June to September. In Delhi, the local government expects more than half a million Covid-19 patients by the end of July, a multiplication by almost 20 in less than two months.
Believing to have controlled the progression of Covid-19, Italy (more than 34,000 deaths) reopened its borders on June 3, but two new sources of contamination (120 cases of Covid-19) were detected last week in Rome. In Germany, which was deconfigured at the end of April, “clusters” appeared from the north to the south of the country at the end of May. The number of confirmed cases of contamination rose on Monday to 186,461, 192 more than the day before, according to data provided by the Robert-Koch Institute.
Finally, in Portugal, relatively spared from the Covid-19 epidemic, the toll rose to 382 new infections, the vast majority of which were reported in factories, warehouses and construction companies in the Lisbon region. Same situation in New Zealand. While the country was no longer at risk for more than 24 days, he reported on Tuesday two new cases arrived from the United Kingdom. They were placed in quarantine.
How are these countries fighting against the resurgence of “clusters”?
Beijing is engaged in a "race against time" against the virus, said, on Tuesday, the mayor spokesman, Xu Hejian. The city of 21 million inhabitants has increased its daily screening capacity to more than 90,000 people a day and five giant food markets have already been closed. Twenty-one residential areas located near these markets have also been quarantined. Schools have been closed, as have sports and cultural sites which had just reopened.
In Germany, medical students from Cologne, recruited by the health authority, play virus hunters. They tirelessly question the new proven or suspected Covid-19 patients in order to stop the chain of infection. For its part, the government has increased the frequency of tests, with a capacity of 160,000 per day (50,000 in France). The Ministry of Health has also recruited 500 "containment monitors" sent to hot spots across the country. "We are prepared for the second wave which will arrive in the fall," said Johannes Niessen, director of the health office, on Monday.
In France and Italy, health authorities are monitoring new outbreaks. Screening campaigns are launched "unexpectedly" in health facilities, shelters for vulnerable people and businesses without cases of Covid-19 having been reported, says the Regional Health Agency of New Aquitaine (ARS). In Rome, the San Raffaele Pisana hospital and the building where the “clusters” appeared were quarantined on Friday, according to AFP.
In Portugal, since June 10, the municipality of Lisbon has imposed exit restrictions, according to our colleagues from RFI. This "mini-reconfinement" imposes an early closure on bars and restaurants, while around 1,000 law enforcement officers are responsible for enforcing the prohibition. While Portugal registers on average 300 new cases of Covid-19 per day according to AFP, phase 3 of the deconfinement has been postponed for Lisbon.
Coronavirus in Portugal: Lisbon sees a resurgence of the pandemic https://t.co/qGEhSyDd9a pic.twitter.com/Kdcm9Q9HM1
- RFI (@RFI) June 14, 2020In India, deconfinement continues while more than 11,000 new cases are confirmed per day. The state of Tamil Nadu (south of the country) has just ordered the reconfiguration of the agglomeration of Chennai from June 19. Residents' movements will be limited to a radius of two kilometers.
Can these new sources of contamination multiply in France?
France has started phase 3 of its deconfinement and the Directorate General for Health (DGS) has identified 233 "clusters" (98 are no longer active), according to a last report dated June 15. Will these new clusters lead us to a “second wave”? Not necessarily. The detection of these new sources of contamination would be a sign of a weaker presence of the virus on the territory, which would make it easier to "hunt". The health authorities are therefore counting on the early detection of outbreaks of contamination.
🗞 Press release | Update #Coronavirus on Monday June 15
◾ 29,436 people died in France
◾ 73,044 people returned home
◾ 10,752 people were hospitalized
◾846 patients # COVID19 serious in intensive carehttps: //t.co/UpCbuLIKEC
"We must identify, screen and isolate all new cases as quickly as possible. It is the best weapon against a second wave and a reconfiguration, "recently explained to 20 Minutes Dr. Jean-Paul Hamon, president of the Federation of Doctors of France (FMF). This precocity has also protected Brittany or New Aquitaine, less affected by the Covid-19 epidemic. The rapid control of clusters will be useful in the event of a resumption of the epidemic in France, above all, he says, "if we use tests widely, we will not miss epidemics that are starting".
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