Fears of a second surge of coronavirus infections are forcing early-hit countries to rethink plans for re-opening as new cases come to light.
China is now testing millions of people to catch new infections. South Korea has dispatched several thousand police officers in a renewed push for contact tracing.
Russia, meanwhile, is still facing its first wave. With more than 10,000 new cases reported each day, the country has the second-highest number of confirmed infections in the world, trailing only the U.S.
The city where it all started, Wuhan, China, is on alert again. Over the next 10 days, authorities in China’s coronavirus epicenter are testing every one of its 11 million residents after six new coronavirus cases were reported over the weekend.
In neighbouring South Korea, authorities in the capital city of Seoul have ordered more than 2,000 clubs and bars to close again after a new cluster of more than 100 COVID-19 cases was traced to the popular entertainment district of Itaewon.
In Japan, meanwhile, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe says the country is on a “steady” path to ending its epidemic. His government may lift the national state of emergency for much of the country as soon as Thursday — more than two weeks earlier than the current May 31 expiry date.
Tokyo, however, may remain under the emergency declaration. The capital has been hit the hardest by the pandemic, with nearly one out of three infections in Japan recorded in the city.
