Some countries are already bracing for a second wave of coronavirus infections

While the full havoc of this global bout of coronavirus contagion is yet to play out in its entirety, some countries have already begun preparing for a second wave of infections.

As travel restrictions are slowly eased in may parts of the world, countries fear travellers who might have picked up the virus elsewhere, may cause another spurt of the disease in the country. A sudden rise in asymptomatic cases, those who test positive but do not show symptoms, has also made it difficult to track and trace possible patients.

Long, long lockdown?

Across Asia, countries that seemed to have brought the epidemic under control are suddenly tightening their borders and imposing stricter containment measures, fearful about a wave of new infections imported from elsewhere.

China has barred entry of foreigners, except diplomats. Citizens of China who are returning from abroad are now required to undergo a 14-day quarantine. Airlines have been allowed to fly to and from a single country only once a week.

Authorities in Wuhan, the epicentre of the novel coronavirus, asked its residents to stay at home and avoid non-essential outings, days after the nine-week lockdown was relaxed in the city.

According to reports, some provinces in China are going as far as assigning QR codes to residents to track their health status and travel history.

China on March 25 downgraded the risk level of the coronavirus in its epicentre Wuhan from high to medium and resumed bus services within the city for the first time since the three-month lockdown.

Like China, Taiwan too has shut its borders. As the cases in the country doubled over one week, Taiwan banned foreign tourists and ordered that citizens and foreign residents undergo a mandatory 14-day quarantine.

As of Wednesday, 283 of Taiwan’s 329 cases had been classified as imported, while the other 46 are believed to be local infections, the Central Epidemic Command Cente said.

Singapore and Hong Kong have similar restrictions in place as well, specially for European nationals.

The moves by these countries portend worrisome signs for a world still battling a surging outbreak. Now, any country’s success with containment could be tenuous, and the world could potentially remain on some kind of indefinite lockdown.

Even when new cases begin to decline, travel barriers and bans in many places may persist until a vaccine or treatment is found.

Fear of a relapse

While most cases of Covid-19 have recovered, there is no evidence to suggest patients have gained immunity to a second bout of the infection.

According to a Times of India report, data from a Wuhan quarantine facility has shown about 5-10% of the “recovered” patients testing positive again.

There have been sporadic cases in other countries too, where relapse has been reported. However, there are doubts over the authenticity of tests conducted and recovery in the first place