Beijing confirmed a new coronavirus case Thursday after reportedly being coronavirus-free for nearly 2 months, according to the Chinese Communist Party’s official newspaper, People’s Daily.
A man was diagnosed by doctors when he visited a clinic Wednesday, according to a BBC report. The 52-year-old said that he hadn’t been in contact with anyone who traveled internationally or left the Chinese capital in the past 2 weeks.
First coronavirus case for nearly two months confirmed in Beijing https://t.co/3aFiLTbVoW pic.twitter.com/LQYeE4gINa
— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) June 11, 2020
The new patient has been identified as Mr. Tang by local authorities, according to a CBS News report. Xicheng District, where Tang lives, has been closed off while temperature checks and sanitation efforts are underway, the District’s Deputy Mayor Miao Jianhong said. (RELATED: New Zealand Has Beaten Coronavirus, Prime Minister Says)
Jianhong said during a news conference that “Xicheng District will continue its epidemiological investigation and strengthen community controls, environmental sampling of key personnel in key locations, improving the ability of early detection and monitoring.”
China eased its coronavirus restrictions in late March after new case numbers dropped following nearly two months of lockdowns, according to NPR.
Beijing’s report comes in light of concerns that were raised from some experts about a second wave of the virus in the fall. Many places in the United States have started to ease coronavirus restrictions, but some states have started to see case numbers rise, according to a Bloomberg report.
A senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security Eric Toner said that “There is a new wave coming in parts of the country,” according to Bloomberg. “It’s small and it’s distant so far, but it’s coming.”