Beijing authorities are struggling to contain a Covid outbreak related to a 24-hour bar known for cheap liquor and large crowds, with millions of people facing mandatory tests and thousands under specific blockades.
The explosion of 228 cases linked to the Heaven Supermarket bar, which had just reopened as the sidewalks in the Chinese capital were reduced last week, shows how difficult it will be for China to achieve success with the its “zero Covid” policy like the rest. of the world trying to live with the virus.
The resurgence of infections is also raising new concerns about the prospects of the world’s second largest economy. China is only treading the economic impact of a two-month blockade on Shanghai that has disrupted global supply chains.
Johns Hopkins Covid Case Numbers China
“Prevention and control of the epidemic are at a critical juncture,” Liu Xiaofeng, a Beijing health official, told a news conference on Monday, adding that the outbreak related to the district’s most popular bar big city, Chaoyang, “still developing.”
In a show of how serious the authorities are taking the situation, Chinese Vice President Sun Chunlan visited the bar and said that Covid’s preventive measures should be strengthened, state media reported.
People infected with the outbreak live or work in 14 of the capital’s 16 districts, according to authorities.
Dinner service at Beijing restaurants resumed on June 6 after more than a month in which the city of 22 million people enforced various coronavirus restrictions. Many shopping malls, gyms and other premises were closed, parts of the public transportation system were suspended and millions of people were urged to work from home.
Chaoyang 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.
On Monday, queues meandered around test sites for more than 100 meters, according to Reuters witnesses. Large metal barriers had been installed around various residential complexes, with people in suits of hazardous material spraying disinfectant.
Other nearby businesses closed include the massage parlor and Paradise spa. Police and security personnel blocked the entrance to the hall on Sunday and authorities said a handful of people would be temporarily locked up for checks.
Last week, when the dinner sidewalks were raised, Heaven Supermarket Bar, modeled as a large self-service liquor store with chairs, sofas and tables, regained its popularity among young and noisy crowds hungry for socializing and partying during the restrictions of Covid of Beijing.
The bar, where guests check the aisles for everything from local liquor to Belgian beer, is known among Beijing partygoers for its tables full of empty bottles and customers falling asleep on sofas after at midnight.
Sign up for First Edition, our free daily newsletter, every weekday morning at 7:00 BST
Officials have not commented on the exact cause of the outbreak, nor have they explained why they are not yet restoring the level of braking seen last month.
The state-backed Beijing Evening News wrote on Monday that the outbreak had arisen from gaps and complacency in preventing epidemics and said that if it grew, “the consequences could be serious and will be such that no one would want see them “.
Shanghai endured two months of blockade, with restrictions lifted less than a fortnight ago. There was relief among residents on Monday after massive tests by most of its 25 million people over the weekend showed only a small increase in daily cases.
But frustrations have continued to simmer over the damage caused by the confinement, especially to residents’ livelihoods. On Monday, downtown shopkeepers put up signs and called for rent refunds, according to videos widely posted on Chinese social media. The rare protest had dissipated when Reuters visited on Monday afternoon, and there was a strong police presence in the area.