Beijing is in a hurry to contain an outbreak of COVID-19 that goes back to a 24-hour bar known for its cheap alcohol and large crowds, with millions of people facing mandatory tests and thousands under specific blockades.
The outbreak of nearly 200 cases was linked to the downtown Heaven Supermarket Bar, which had just reopened as the sidewalks of China’s capital shrank last week.
It highlights the great challenge that will be for China to achieve success with its “zero COVID” policy, as most countries have decided to learn to live with the virus.
The resurgence of COVID-19 infections also raises new concerns about the prospects of the world’s second largest economy.
It also comes as Shanghai, China’s most populous city, has just come out of a two-month blockade to try to contain the virus.
In Beijing, dinner service in restaurants resumed last week after more than a month of forced coronavirus measurements in the city of 22 million people.
Heaven Supermarket Bar was one of the places that quickly regained its popularity among young and noisy people following strict measures.
The bar, where guests check out the aisles for anything from local liquor to Belgian beer, is known for its empty bottle-covered tables and people falling asleep on sofas after midnight.
With nearly 200 COVID cases linked to the bar since June 9, authorities described the outbreak as “ferocious” and “explosive.”
A resident, Cao, who runs a convenience store in Beijing’s largest district, Chaoyang, where the bar group was discovered, said: “Now we have to try every day. It’s a bit tricky, but it’s necessary. “.
“The virus situation has hurt our business a little bit, it has dropped by 20 to 30 percent.”
Many places were closed during the Beijing blockade, including shopping malls and gyms, and parts of the city’s public transportation system were suspended, and millions were urged to work from home.
Following the explosion of the bar in Chaoyang, authorities on Monday launched a three-day mass testing campaign among its approximately 3.5 million residents.
Some 10,000 close contacts of the bar’s customers have been identified and their residential buildings are closed.
Some planned school reopenings in the district have been postponed due to the outbreak.
Image: People line up for nucleic acid testing at a mobile test booth in Beijing
Test sites in the city saw long queues of more than 100 meters, according to eyewitnesses.
Several residential complexes have been barricaded with large metal barriers, with people in suits of hazardous material spraying disinfectant nearby.
The state-backed Beijing Evening News wrote in a comment that the bar group was caused by gaps and complacency in preventing epidemics.
“At a time when … normalcy is being restored in the city, the fall of Heaven Supermarket Bar means that the hardships and efforts of countless people have been in vain,” the newspaper wrote.
If the outbreak grows, “the consequences could be serious, and they would be such that no one would want to see them,” he added.
When Beijing authorities tackled new COVID cases in April, retail sales in the capital fell 16% year-on-year, while real estate sales fell 25%.
May data, which will arrive later this month, is also expected to be disastrous. Before the bar cases, there were high hopes of a rebound in June.