“Unknown origin” infections reached half of all new local cases.
While Asia-Pacific countries are fighting coronavirus outbreaks, a data point guides government responses: the proportion of cases with no clear indication of how the infection occurred.
These patients cannot be linked to other confirmed infections or to existing epidemics by viral responders, indicating hidden chains of transmission. An increasing proportion of these cases in the resurgence of a city pushes governments, as in Australia and Hong Kong, to take wide and direct measures, bringing entire cities to lockdown conditions
“You can hardly contain the epidemic because you do not know where they will exit next,” said Yang Gonghuan, former deputy director general of the China Center for Disease Control and Prevention. “When there are more cases with unknown origins, this adds to the difficulty of containment.”
On the other hand, a small proportion of cases of unknown origin means that the authorities can remain relatively relaxed – as in South Korea and Japan – even if the total number of new daily infections reaches hundreds. These countries can take a targeted and agile approach, closing schools or workplaces with clusters, but allowing the rest of the population to live normally.
This data point is a telltale sign of the resurgence of resurgences around the world in larger waves and the need for residents to gird themselves for a return to lockdown. Here’s a breakdown of how places that fight gusts use the number to guide their responses:
Hong Kong: the strictest restrictions
The Asian financial center experienced three months of normal life before a surprise resurgence this month which seems to be the worst wave in its history. “Unknown origin” infections have reached half of all new local cases, indicating that they are emerging from all over.
The former British colony reacted quickly, imposing its strictest restrictions on the city of 7.5 million inhabitants. Schools started the summer vacation early while bars, gymnasiums and beaches were closed. Public gatherings are limited to four people and those who refuse to wear masks on public transport will be fined HK $ 5,000 ($ 645).
Melbourne, Australia: back to lockdown
Melbourne’s 5 million residents are in the midst of a six-week government-imposed foreclosure due to a new wave of coronavirus infections in Victoria, 51% of which are of unknown origin or still under investigation. The epidemic is spreading in Sydney, which fears that the largest city in Australia is a new hot spot.
The lockdown, which included a ban on 3,000 residents in social housing buildings from leaving their apartments for several days until they are all tested, recalls the stringent controls imposed on Wuhan, the Chinese city where the virus appeared for the first time. This has made Australia one of the only western democracies to demand that people cannot leave their homes.
Tokyo, Japan: a worrying slight increase
Called “infections by unknown routes” by Japanese officials, the share of these cases when the new outbreak started about a month ago was initially small, at around a fifth. This was cited by the government for taking relatively little action and for continuing to open up the economy and society.
But the share of cases of unknown origin has now increased to around 45%, alarming. While the Japanese government has no legal power to force businesses to close, the situation has prompted the country’s economy minister, Yasutoshi Nishimura, to set a harsher tone on nightclubs, warning that some may be asked to close if they don’t follow directions. On Wednesday, Tokyo raised its alert level to the highest on a four-point scale and asked people to change their behavior to prevent further spread.
“We have to make sure that this wave doesn’t get bigger and trigger a state of emergency,” Nishimura said on Tuesday. “I feel we are approaching the scene.”
South Korea: relaxed reaction
The country praised its success in taming the virus through rapid testing and aggressive tracing of contacts without locking, continuing to maintain relative calm in the face of the outbreaks. This is likely due to the fact that only one tenth of new cases in South Korea in the first two weeks of July came from unknown routes of transmission.
Although the authorities have introduced electronic exit and entry systems in high-risk areas such as gymnasiums and nightclubs, they have not had to impose general measures restricting the movement of people, even if new daily cases range from 30 to 60 more – sometimes more than those from Hong Kong.
The emergence of this category of cases and their influence on the containment policy is due to the insidious infectiousness of the coronavirus, a quality which allowed it to spread so widely in a short time. There are many things scientists still do not understand about the behavior of the virus, including whether it persists in the air and for how long, and how it has been attributed to the packaging of shrimp imported into China.
“There are still relatively few unexplained hot spots in this region,” said Yang. “But when they show up, people worry more about the future.”
(With the exception of the title, this story was not edited by GalacticGaming staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
