COVID-19 resurgence: Cases rise in China, Europe and New Zealand

The COVID-19 pandemic is again rearing its head on the opposite sides of Eurasia after a lull, with both, China and Europe reporting a rise in cases, according to media reports. New Zealand too is facing a resurgence in cases.

China recorded 5,280 new cases March 16, 2022, which is a more than two-fold increase from the day before. The stealth variant of omicron, BA.2, has been blamed for the rise in infections.

The northeastern province of Jilin is the epicentre of the new wave, having recorded more than 3,000 of the new cases.

The Chinese government has put almost 30 million people under lockdown as a mitigation measure. Mass testing, curtailment of flights and strict restrictions in at least 13 cities have been implemented.

The new wave is now being described as an outbreak worse than what triggered the pandemic in late 2019 in Wuhan. China’s streets resemble the early days of the pandemic, when grocery stores were emptied as a result of hoarding and streets were eerily quiet.

The restrictions in China are set to impact global supply chains. However, it is not the only country reporting yet another outbreak. After a wave triggered by omicron, COVID-19 cases have begun rising in the United States and several European countries as well.

The World Health Organization’s European office warned of an uptick in cases in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Russia, and Ukraine March 16.

The western side of the continent has begun shedding restrictions despite the possibility of another impending wave. France, the Netherlands, Germany, Austria and Switzerland have announced the reopening of public places.

Nearly all of these countries as well as the United Kingdom have begun recording an increase in COVID-19 cases, preceded by a spike caused by omicron, according to the website Our World in Data.

Eric Topol, founder and director of the Scripps Research Translational Institute, tweeted March 12, “The next wave in Europe has begun.”

Hong Kong and New Zealand — both of which were fortresses till now — have buckled under the emergence of omicron. Cases have skyrocketed to unprecedented levels in both places. However, New Zealand has managed to handle the situation better, keeping the death rate under control.

Hong Kong, however, is witnessing scenes similar to India during the deadly second wave. The healthcare system has buckled due to oxygen shortage, insufficient beds and an overburdened workforce.

The region is now home to the highest deaths per capita. The reasons for this are largely the low vaccination rates among the older population. Some 80.44 per cent of those aged between 70 and 79 years having been fully vaccinated. Thus, the figure falls to 55.29 per cent for those above 80.

Many were hoping the virus would become less severe with every new variant after two years of the COVID-19 pandemic disrupting life like never before.

This was the case for omicron. It was significantly more infectious than its preceding delta variant and has immunity escaping characteristics. But it does not cause as severe a disease.

However, a Nature article published March 14 warned of unpredictability in the future.

“The comparatively milder infections with the omicron variant and higher levels of population immunity have raised hopes for a weakening of the pandemic. We argue that the lower severity of omicron is a coincidence and that ongoing rapid antigenic evolution is likely to produce new variants that may escape immunity and be more severe,” it noted.

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