The Saloma Link Bridge is empty the day after authorities issued a state of emergency in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Jan. 13, 2021.
A second wave of the deadly Chinese Communist virus epidemic is making a global comeback, rapidly spreading to countries from Europe and African nations to Canada, China and Japan, while the United States reported a record 4,300 deaths in a single day on Jan. 12.
Governments have taken a range of measures, such as lockdowns, curfews and school closures, to contain the spread of the CCP virus, while some countries have begun rolling out vaccines. At the same time, a growing number of countries are reporting the emergence of new variants of the virus, which could affect how the virus spreads.
China
The CCP virus, which originated in Wuhan, China in December 2019, is spreading rapidly despite strict area lockdowns enacted by governments across northern China. The most severely affected province is Hebei, which surrounds Beijing, with the provincial capitals of Shijiazhuang and Xingtai being the two cities with the largest spike in new infections.
Hebei, Liaoning, Heilongjiang, Henan and Ningxia, as well as Inner Mongolia and Beijing, have declared “wartime” mode over the weekend due to the surge in cases of the CCP virus. “Wartime” mode usually means that the government has imposed strict restrictions on the amount of time residents can go outside, and in addition, almost all public facilities, such as schools, stores, stadiums and parks, will be closed.
“At present, new confirmed cases, as well as clusters of outbreaks, are being found across the country,” Beijing government spokesman Xu Hejian said at a Jan. 8 news conference.
It has been widely reported in the media that the Chinese Communist Party has been deliberately concealing the outbreak and underreporting the number of confirmed cases of the viral infection in order to maintain its so-called international image. So the actual situation should be much more serious.
The central government has issued a recommendation not to travel during the Lunar New Year holiday. This year, the Lunar New Year is February 12. Millions of people will usually return home in various ways with a view to reuniting with their families.
Over the weekend, governments across China also announced a new rule requiring those who wish to travel during the New Year to get prior approval from their employers.
Britain
Britain is entering the “worst weeks” of the Communist Party virus pandemic, the country’s chief health official said on Jan. 11.
Professor Chris Whitty said the U.K. must “double down” on the blockade before the rollout of the vaccine begins to have an impact on the spread of the disease. Whitty blamed a new variant of the Chinese Communist virus for the dire situation. The British government says this new variant of the virus is spreading 50 to 70 percent faster.
He told the BBC’s “Breakfast” program, “In a way, this new variant is really driving [the outbreak] in a way that the old variant, as bad as it has been, hasn’t been able to do.”
Data released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) in the U.K. show that on average, one in 50 people in England is infected with the CCP virus, while in London, one in 30 people is infected.
Across the United Kingdom, areas like England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales are already in a Level 1 state of preparedness. This means that people cannot leave their homes unless they have a “valid excuse,” which includes buying necessities, religious worship and medical appointments. Police will fine people who leave their homes without a valid reason.
British Health Secretary Matt Hancock said on Jan. 11 that the government needs to assess the impact of the vaccine before it can be more specific about when it will be able to ease restrictions aimed at curbing the Chinese Communist virus.
The U.K. government plans to vaccinate everyone in the four groups with the highest mortality rates from the CCHV by mid-February, including members of nursing homes and their caregivers, all people over the age of 70, all front-line health and social care workers, and all clinically extremely vulnerable people, with the first dose of the vaccine.
Canada
On January 12, Ontario, Canada declared a state of emergency after the latest modeling showed that by mid-February, Canada’s most populous province will have more than 20,000 new confirmed cases of CCHD infection per day, an almost 10-fold increase over current numbers.
In a worst-case scenario, about 1,500 more people could die from the CCP virus by mid-February in long-term care facilities in Ontario, Canada, where hospitals are already swamped with people infected with the CCP virus and have triggered the imposition of a province-wide lockdown, according to models built by government consultant experts.
The new restrictions, which will take effect Jan. 14, will require residents to stay home except for essential activities, while outdoor gatherings will be limited to five people and non-essential construction work will be restricted.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford said at a media briefing, “I know that working from home is an extreme measure, and it wasn’t an easy decision for us to make. But everyone must stay at home so that everyone can protect lives. There will also be an increase in related enforcement and inspections.”
Since Dec. 26, Ontario, Canada’s economic engine province, has been in lockdown, with non-essential businesses shut down. Schools have also closed to learning.
Government of Canada data show that the daily average number of confirmed cases of C.C.V. infections has exceeded 3,500 in the past seven days. 2,903 new cases of C.C.V. infections were reported in Ontario on Jan. 12.
Ontario data show that in the worst-case scenario, the number of infections is growing at a rate of 7%, which would result in 40,000 new cases per day by mid-February, while the best-case scenario is a 1% growth rate, which would result in more than 5,000 new cases per day. The data show that in the recent worst-case days, the increase in cases has been more than 7%.
Japan
Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said on Jan. 13 that seven more prefectures will be put under a state of emergency, Kyodo News reported. These prefectures are Osaka, Aichi, Tochigi, Gifu, Hyogo, Kyoto and Fukuoka.
As of press time, the total number of infections throughout Japan has exceeded 300,000 cases due to the recent surge in infections.
At the end of December last year, the total number of infections exceeded 200,000, but despite the recent rapid increase in the number, Yasutoshi Nishimura, the minister in charge of Japan’s response to the CCP virus, said he was reluctant to extend emergency measures nationwide.
Japanese Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare Norihisa Tamura told a panel of experts that the situation in Japan remains “very serious” in terms of the outbreak.
Japanese health officials announced on Jan. 10 the discovery of a new variant of the Chinese communist virus, different from the variants found in Japan in the United Kingdom and South Africa. According to Takaji Wakita, director of Japan’s National Institute of Infectious Diseases (NIID), the mutant virus was found in four people from Brazil.
United States
According to Johns Hopkins University (WHO), the total number of people who have died from the CCP virus in the United States has exceeded 380,000. In the United States, the number of confirmed infections has exceeded 22.8 million.
According to the university, 4,327 people died in the United States on Jan. 12. Arizona and California are the states with the worst outbreaks.
The daily numbers are subject to revision, but single-day deaths have risen sharply in the past two and a half months and the country is in the deadliest phase of the outbreak, with new infections averaging nearly 250,000 cases a day even as a vaccine is being rolled out.
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