China’s capital, Beijing, is facing an outbreak of “explosive” COVID-19 connected to a bar, a government spokesman warned on Saturday, when the Shanghai mall began mass tests to contain a jump in cases linked to a popular beauty salon.
The warning came after a renewed tightening of COVID restrictions in Beijing since Thursday, with at least two districts, including its most populous district, Chaoyang, closing certain leisure venues following a eruption in Beijing. a busy neighborhood known for its nightlife, its shops and its embassy streets. .
Although China’s infection rate is low by global standards, President Xi Jinping has doubled the zero-VOCID policy that authorities say is necessary to protect the elderly and the medical system, even when other countries try to live with the virus.
So far, the 1.4 billion country has seen a total of only 5,226 fatalities.
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The latest cases in Beijing were related to a beverage establishment known as the Heaven Supermarket Bar. Since then, infections have increased, and Beijing said on Saturday that all 61 new cases discovered in the city on Friday had visited the bar or had links to it.
“The recent outbreak of Heaven Supermarket Bar-related cases is highly explosive and widespread, and the composition of those involved is also complex,” Xu Hejian, a spokesman for Beijing City Government, told a news conference. press.
The capital reported 46 new local cases of COVID on Saturday from 3pm local time (7am GMT), health official Liu Xiaofeng said at the same briefing. All cases were discovered among individuals already isolated or under observation, Liu said. The city did not announce any new restrictions on the briefing.
Read more: Beijing residents return to work as China doubles its “zero COVID” policy.
The city did not announce any new restrictions on the briefing, but later the Beijing Sports Administration said all off-campus and “offline” activities for teens would be canceled as of Sunday.
So far, a total of 115 cases and 6,158 close contacts linked to the bar have been reported, which puts the city back at 22 million in a state of anxiety.
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Less than two weeks ago, Beijing had relaxed the COVID restrictions imposed to fight a major outbreak that began in April.
With the resurgence of COVID, the extensive Universal Beijing Resort, a theme park on the outskirts of the city, canceled a plan to reopen on Friday afternoon, saying it would remain closed until further notice. Three of his workers had visited the Heaven supermarket bar, according to Beijing authorities.
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Many neighborhoods in the capital have been blocked, and residents have been told to stay home.
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In Shanghai, city officials on Saturday announced three new confirmed local cases and an asymptomatic case detected outside the quarantined areas, as nearly 25 million city residents began a new round of COVID testing.
Authorities have ordered a PCR test for all residents in 15 of Shanghai’s 16 districts this weekend, with five districts preventing residents from leaving their homes during the trial period. Shanghai residents should complete at least one PCR test a week by July 31, a city official told a news conference on Saturday.
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The new tests come just 10 days after the city lifted a two-month confinement with the aim of eliminating the community spread of COVID-19, raising concerns among many residents who struggled with the loss of income, the loss of freedom, the death of friends and family, and even hunger during this period.
“I am a little worried that if there are positive cases on the premises, it will be put in a sealed position,” said Shi Weiqi, a Shanghai resident. “I will also stock up on some supplies properly in case the above situation happens again.”
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Shanghai authorities said they had also reprimanded and fired several district-level officials for failures at a hotel used to quarantine arrivals from abroad, identified as one of the sources of the Shanghai wave. of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus.
They also said they had warned or fired some executives from a state-owned company that owns the Red Rose beauty salon, where three cases were found among workers this week.
Salon employees had not followed the guidelines for conducting daily PCR tests, they said.
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On Saturday, Shanghai reported seven new local symptomatic cases the day before, one more than a day earlier, six of which were detected outside the quarantined areas.
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The city also recorded nine new local asymptomatic cases, more than six the day before.
A total of 210 new coronavirus cases were reported in mainland China on June 10, of which 79 were symptomatic and 131 were asymptomatic, the National Health Commission said on Saturday.
This rose from 151 new cases the day before: 45 symptomatic and 106 asymptomatic infections, which China counts separately.
On Friday, mainland China had confirmed 224,659 cases with symptoms.
Featured by Andrew Galbraith, Ryan Woo, Brenda Goh and Shanghai Newsroom; Editing by Kim Coghill and David Holmes