Renewed Outbreaks in South Korea and China Shows Risk of Easing Coronavirus Measures

South Korean President Moon Jae-In spoke on May 10 after a new cluster of coronavirus cases appeared in Seoul, South Korea. The new cases sparked fear of a second wave of infections in the country.

South Korea was among the first countries to deal with a major coronavirus epidemic, and it seemed to be on track to loosen restrictions after weeks of social distancing measures and careful surveillance. However, the new cluster seems to have put an end to that, with Moon warning Koreans that they must not lower their guards regarding coronavirus prevention.

Another country that has recorded new cases after easing their lockdown is China. Shulan, a place located in the far northeast of China, has been put under lockdown after 11 cases were discovered. Shulan is in Jilin province that borders both Russia and North Korea and there are concerns raised about the imported cases from overseas causing a renewed outbreak. In Wuhan, the province where the virus allegedly originated, reported five new cases on May 4.

Was it too early to lift the restrictions?

Although the numbers that South Korea and China reported are significantly lower than the numbers that were recorded during the height of the pandemic, it still shows that the virus can still infect people and it can still spread, thus raising concerns about the viability of reopening.

A spokesman for China's National Health Commission, Mi Feng, said on May 10 that people need to stay alert and step up personal protection against the virus. He added that the new clusters were a reminder to avoid social gatherings and seek medical advice or testing should anyone show any virus symptoms.

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Coronavirus cases in Europe

There are also European countries that received praise for being able to handle the crisis well, and one of them is Germany. However, its reproduction number has increased to above one for the past two days in a row, according to its center for disease control, the Robert Koch Institute, or RKI.

This means that one infected person is infecting more than one other person on an average scale. It was seen as a success story at first, thanks to a well-resourced health system and early mass testing. Germany's reproduction number was estimated to have fallen to 0.65 on May 7, and it had begun a slow reopening. According to Chancellor Angela Merkel, Germany could afford a bit of courage, while cautioning that they have to watch that this thing does not slip out of their hands.

According to RKI, there was still a degree of uncertainty with the latest estimates but the increase in reproduction rate makes it necessary to observe the development very closely over the next few weeks.

The German federal government and the states had agreed on a snap-back mechanism in case the virus returns for a second wave. If any county exceeds 50 new coronavirus infections per 100,000 inhabitants, lockdown measures will be reintroduced in that country. Unfortunately, over the weekend, several counties across Germany exceeded that limit.

The new infections in China and South Korea, and the growing infections in Germany, has raised questions that if the said countries that appear to be on top of the disease still can't contain it, what can other countries with thousands of daily cases hope to do?

However, the said countries had the worst outbreaks in the world in February but still managed to get the crisis under control. They may be seeing new cases but it is a lesson about the risks of relaxing too soon and not a reason to give up the fight entirely.