Beijing Fights to Contain Virus, HK Fights to Contain Protesters

Beijing police prevent people from going to Fengtai district

After 55 consecutive days of no new coronavirus cases, Beijing has had an explosion of new ones in the last few days.

Forty-four new cases were reported on the weekend, most of them apparently linked to Xinfadi Market in Fengtai district and it was immediately shut down. People living near the wet market were tested.

Xinfadi Market where new cases were linked

A wholesale seafood market called Jingsheng was also closed on suspicion of one of the patients who recently tested positive went there.

Ben Cowling, professor and head of epidemiology and biostatistics at the University of Hong Kong's school of public health believes this is the start of the second wave of coronavirus in Beijing.

Despite the capital city's efforts to prevent a second wave, it has now arrived and medical authorities are trying to find out where it came from. There were reports it was from a piece of imported salmon, but experts dismissed this, saying it could have been the fishmonger or the customer who had the virus.

Looks like Beijing has its hands full trying to contain the coronavirus, though there are probably a lot of people who are asymptomatic and are now testing positive or recently caught it from someone else.

Chan mulling over relaxing distancing measures

In the meantime here in Hong Kong, Secretary for Health and Food Sophia Chan Siu-chee is mulling easing social-distancing regulations as the city has had no new cases today, with the total at 1,109, and four deaths.

The day before it was reported another person tested positive who lives at Luk Chuen House at Lek Yuen Estate in Sha Tin, making them the ninth case in a recent cluster there.

Social distancing restrictions are supposed to end on June 18, but it is possible the government may extend it in a bid to prevent protests, but lots of people are frustrated by how the authorities decide what is open and what remains closed.

For example, why is the tourist attraction Ocean Park allowed to reopen when playgrounds are not? Why are public swimming pools open when saunas and steam rooms cannot? When it comes to tennis, there cannot be players on every tennis court -- they must keep alternate ones free of people, even though the maximum number of players is four per court.

A ninth person who lived here tested positive

So perhaps Chan can focus on addressing these questions that many parents and exercisers are asking?