Many countries, especially those that were the most heavily impacted by the pandemic at the beginning, tightened their lockdown restrictions and measures as a result. However, they have recently been forced to impose new, even stricter restrictions on their residents after there has been a sudden surge in the number of recorded cases.
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China and Italy, where it all began
China was the first country to experience the consequences of the coronavirus and this led to one of the strictest lockdowns in the world. Even though several large cities were put into quarantine, dozens of cases have recently been recorded in the capital, Beijing, and the surrounding areas… So the local government quickly made the decision to put residents back into lockdown. At the end of June, nearly 500,000 inhabitants were rounded up and Beijing was completely shut off. Not only this, but the country is also facing a new possible virus outbreak.
Same problem in Italy, one of the worse affected countries at the start of the pandemic. Italian authorities aren’t willing to take any risks when it comes to COVID-19 anymore. In the south of the country in a commune known as Mondragone, an hour away from Naples, an entire neighbourhood was placed into lockdown on 22nd June for a minimum of 15 days after there was another virus outbreak. The decision angered locals, including Bulgarian foreign workers, so much so, in fact, that the military was forced to step in.
Germany and Portugal were cautious, but India reacted radically
In Germany, most cases of contamination were actually the result of slaughterhouses, like in Gütersloh for example, where more than 1,500 cases were recorded in the largest slaughterhouse in Europe. The entire district, around 360,000 people, were put into lockdown as well as the neighbouring district which restricted travel and other day-to-day activities for its residents.
Something similar also happened in Portugal where Lisbon, the capital city, as well as the suburbs were quite heavily impacted. In these areas, the number of daily coronavirus cases recently tripled. So, on 26th June, 19 neighbourhoods and areas were placed under lockdown for at least two weeks.
In India, the measures they recently imposed were even stricter after 19,000 daily cases have been recorded over recent weeks. Several districts in the state of Tamil Nadu have been put under a strict lockdown until the end of July which will affect around 15 million inhabitants.
What about the USA, the UK and Algeria?
As we are sure you have heard, the recent situation in Leicester has Boris Johnson and the government worrying. After a sudden spike in the number of new coronavirus cases and after several heated debates, the government decided to close city schools and all businesses that are deemed ‘non-essential’.
Algeria is another example of this, as they are currently in the throes of another surge of infections, just three weeks after the first lockdown measures were introduced. After these rules were ‘relaxed’, authorities have since decided to keep the borders fully closed until the pandemic is over.
And in the United States, the virus is currently on a particularly bad rampage after a million cases were recorded over the past few days. And a steady increase in cases is also being observed across 30 of the 50 states. As a result, the different states are currently putting new restrictive measures into place, especially in places such as Texas and Florida.
