CNN, on new outbreaks in South Korea, Germany and China: the risk of an epidemic is significant

New outbreaks of coronavirus found in countries such as South Korea, Germany and China show that there are still epidemic risks, as many states relax restrictions, CNN notes.

“It doesn’t end until it ends safely.” This was the idea of ​​South Korean President Moon Jae-In, who made remarks on Sunday in the context of detecting a new coronavirus outbreak in the country’s capital Seoul, raising fears of a new wave of infections in the state. from East Asia, “says journalist. CNN James Griffiths.

South Korea was one of the first countries to face a major coronavirus epidemic and appeared to be on track to continue easing restrictions after weeks of social disconnection and close surveillance. But the new outbreak appears to be putting an end to the trend for now, with the president of South Korea warning citizens that “no guard should be left behind regarding epidemic preventive measures.”

China is also introducing new restrictions, after two cities reported new cases of coronavirus. The city of Shulan, located in the northeast province of Jilin, has been quarantined after 11 new cases of coronavirus. Jilin is close to China’s border with Russia and North Korea, and people coming from abroad are feared to generate new outbreaks of contagion.

More alarming is the new outbreak of infection in Wuhan, the city where the coronavirus first appeared last year. Wuhan was the first city in the world to establish a quarantine, returning to normal only last month, after 76 days.

On Monday, five new cases were found in Wuhan and none in foreign countries. Even if the numbers are much lower than at the start of the crisis or those reported daily in Western Europe or the United States, the apparent ability of the virus to continue to spread undetected, especially in a city as heavily monitored and restricted as Wuhan , will raise concerns about the feasibility of suspending the restrictions.

Mi Feng, spokesman for the China National Health Commission, urged citizens to “stay vigilant and increase personal protection measures against the virus.”

In Europe, Germany has given an example of how to handle an epidemic, but the infection rate has again exceeded 1 for the second consecutive day, according to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), where the German epidemic control center operates.

The contagion coefficient was at 0.65 on Thursday, and authorities began easing the restrictions. Chancellor Angela Merkel said citizens “can afford to have a little courage,” but cautioned that “things should not get out of control.”

The Robert Koch Institute said there was “some degree of uncertainty” about the latest estimates, stressing that this increase in the infection rate “requires close monitoring of the situation in the coming days.”