After two weeks with no new cases, Beijing eases response level

BEIJING • The authorities in Beijing will lower the city's Covid-19 emergency response level after almost two weeks of no new domestic coronavirus infections.

The response level will be changed to 3 from 2 today, on a scale where 1 is the most serious, Mr Chen Bei, vice-secretary general of the municipal government, said at a briefing yesterday.

The Chinese capital will also reopen public places including parks, museums and libraries, but at 50 per cent of their accommodation capacity, Mr Chen said.

The outbreak that started in mid-June infected at least 335 people and sparked fears of a second wave in China, but ended up being contained relatively quickly in less than 30 days.

Although the city of over 20 million was never fully locked down like Wuhan, where the virus first emerged, activity has dipped significantly since the outbreak.

Cultural performances, exhibitions and sports events will gradually resume but with capacity limits upon authorities' review, Mr Chen said.

Meanwhile, China is re-opening cinemas today and other venues that had been shut, such as gyms, are expected to follow. Schools are closed for summer vacation but should now re-open as scheduled on Sept 1.

"It takes two weeks for zero new cases to sustain before we can conclude that local cases will not lead to recurrent cases," Dr Wu Zunyou, the chief epidemiologist at China's Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, had told state media last month.

The containment of the resurgence in its political and cultural centre is a boost to China's confidence in the fight against the pandemic, as other cities in the region including Hong Kong and Tokyo struggle with new waves.

However, the coronavirus is re-appearing in other parts of the country, underscoring the challenges ahead. Last Friday, officials halted subway service and locked down housing compounds in Urumqi, the capital city of western Xinjiang province, after six infections were reported, along with 11 asymptomatic cases.

As of early yesterday, the number reported had increased to 30 confirmed cases and 41 asymptomatic carriers.

At least this number of people in Beijing were infected during the coronavirus outbreak that started in mid-June. It ended up being contained relatively quickly in less than 30 days.

China has also announced that it has detected the virus on the packaging of imported shrimp in a number of provinces, raising alarm that the pathogen can spread through the global food trade.

But the authorities said that there is no evidence the traces of virus found can be infectious.