China is reporting the first local transmission in Beijing in weeks after the capital has been gradually reopening during a sharp decline in new cases
June 12, 2020, 3:42 AM
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Share to FacebookShare to TwitterEmail this articleBEIJING -- China reported the first local transmission in Beijing in weeks on Friday after the capital has been gradually reopening during a sharp decline in cases.
Six other new cases were Chinese citizens arriving from abroad, the National Health Commission said in its daily report. No new deaths were reported and just 65 people remain in treatment, while another 104 are in isolation being monitored after having tested positive for the virus while showing no symptoms. One other person was listed as a suspected case after displaying other signs they may be infected.
China has reported 4,634 deaths from COVID-19, a figure that has been static for weeks, among 83,064 total cases since the virus was first detected in the central Chinese industrial city of Wuhan.
Local authorities said the Beijing case is a 52-year-old man who went to a clinic with an intermittent fever but no other symptoms. He was swiftly diagnosed as having COVID-19 prompting authorities to isolate to family members and reinstate anti-virus measures in his neighborhood.
The man reported that he had not left Beijing for more than two weeks, roughly the virus’ incubation period, and had not been in contact with anyone from outside the city.
His infection follows gradual loosening of restrictions in Beijing, with practically everything now reopened, apart from movie theaters and some other entertainment venues. Temperature checks and social distancing measures are still in place.
In other developments in the Asia-Pacific region:
— RESURGENCE IN SEOUL: South Korea has reported 56 new cases of COVID-19 as the country continues to see a resurgence of the virus concentrated in the capital area. Figures released by South Korea’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday brought national totals to 12,003 cases and 277 deaths. At least 45 of the new cases were reported from the Seoul metropolitan area, where about half of South Korea’s 51 million people live. Health officials have struggled to track transmissions linked to entertainment and leisure activities, church gatherings and low-income workers.
