Beijing: Even as Wuhan is trying to come to grips with the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, Beijing is staring at a potential threat from the scourge that has the world on tenterhooks.
According to local health authorities, after a lull of many days, 10 fresh instances of COVID-19 infection were reported from Beijing on Wednesday. The revelation came after it was reported that a confirmed COVID-19 patient had arrived in Beijing from Wuhan, which is the epicentre of the epidemic.
An outbreak of COVID-19 in Beijing would have disastrous consequences as the entire administration stands to suffer in such a scenario.
Following a spurt in cases of infections on the back of imported cases and other risk groups, the local authorities are working hard at strengthening epidemic prevention capabilities.
Apart from focusing on people working as cleaners, and those in areas such as logistics and security, local authorities are looking at communication initiatives to fight the virus’ fight. Accordingly, local party honchos and officials will be involved in the measures.
As part of the preventive precautions, foreign travellers arriving in the city by air have to submit themselves for self-quarantine lasting 14 days.
As of Thursday, Beijing has reported five COVID-19 related deaths and 410 confirmed cases.
