China imposes local lockdowns as COVID-19 cases surge

China tightened lockdowns and increased orders for mass testing in cities along its east coast Wednesday amid the latest surge in COVID-19 cases. Checks have been set up in toll stations around the city of Putian in Fujian province, with a dozen of them closed entirely. The nearby cities of Xiamen and Quanzhou have also […]

Paris spared as France expands local lockdowns

France placed the northern Pas-de-Calais region under weekend lockdown over the spread of COVID-19, the third area to be singled out for tighter restrictions as the government battles to avoid a third national lockdown. Announcing the measure, Prime Minister Jean Castex said that with more than 400 confirmed cases per 100,000 people the Pas-de-Calais had […]

Local health agencies struggle to ramp up virus tracking

As state after state begins to reopen, local health departments charged with tracking down everyone who has been in close contact with those who test positive for the new coronavirus are still scrambling to hire the number of people they need to do the job. They are often hundreds—even thousands—of people short of targets for […]