Covid-19 spike in China sparks fear of second wave
China is bracing for a second wave of Covid-19 infections after reporting more than 100 fresh cases – the highest daily rate in six weeks. Beijing confirmed on Sunday that 108 new cases of Covid-19 had been discovered, almost all of them in people who had returned recently from overseas.
That brought the total number of coronavirus cases reported by China as of Monday (April 13) to 82,160, with 3,341 deaths and 77,663 recovered.
Chinese authorities have reported a steep decline in the rate of new infections in recent days, which prompted them to lift lockdown measures in the pandemic’s epicentre of Wuhan on April 8. However, Beijing is still banning foreigners from travelling to China, with rates of infections still high in many other parts of the globe.
World Health Organisation director Tedros Adhanom has warned that countries who cancel lockdown measures too quickly may invite a second phase of Covid-19 contagion.
