Beijing in 'race against time' to contain virus surge

BEIJING • The authorities in China's capital warned yesterday that a Covid-19 surge in cases linked to a 24-hour bar was critical and the city of 22 million was in a "race against time" to get to grips with its most serious outbreak since the pandemic began.

The flare-up means that millions of people are facing mandatory testing and thousands are under targeted lockdowns, just days after the city started to lift widespread curbs that had run for more than a month to tackle a broader outbreak since late April.

Drinking and dining in most establishments resumed only on June 6, after more than a month of measures such as takeaway meals only and working from home, along with the closure of malls and stretches of the transport system.

The authorities at the weekend announced a "ferocious" Covid-19 outbreak of 287 cases linked to the Heaven Supermarket Bar, which had only just reopened after curbs were eased last week.

"We should go all out, race against time," Beijing municipal government spokesman He Lijian said yesterday, referring to efforts to contain the outbreak.

Police have launched a criminal investigation into the person in charge of the bar on suspected interference with epidemic prevention, said Mr Pan Xuhong, deputy director of the city's Public Security Bureau.

He said three other people, two of whom had visited the bar and the other a close contact of bar customers, had been put under criminal investigation after they insisted on going out despite being ordered to isolate at home.

The three were later confirmed to have been infected, which resulted in dozens of people being put into quarantine and more than 2,000 under other Covid-19 measures, Mr Pan said.

The bar's business licence has been revoked after officials found that it failed to comply with rules, including checking customers' temperature and Covid-19 test results, or making sure that customers scan a digital health code, the authorities said yesterday.

The state-backed Beijing Daily newspaper has pointed the finger at an individual, dubbed Patient No. 1,991, for triggering the flare-up. Careless behaviour had turned the unidentified person into the "propagator" of the outbreak.

The Beijing authorities said the person did not take a Covid-19 test between May 26 and June 8, despite visiting a number of restaurants, bars and crowded places at that time. The patient developed a fever by the evening of June 8, two days after a visit to the 24-hour bar at the centre of the cluster.

Despite the fever, the person returned to the bar early on June 9, the same day a handful of other bar patrons were found to be infected.

The authorities have refrained from restoring the toughest of the earlier restrictions, but about 10,000 close contacts of the customers of the bar have been identified and their residential buildings put under lockdown.

Chaoyang, the city's largest district, in which the bar is located, began a three-day mass testing on Monday for its 3.5 million residents. People infected in the latest surge in cases live or work in 14 of the capital's 16 districts.

All of the city's bars, nightclubs, karaoke venues, Internet cafes and other places of entertainment were being inspected, with those in underground spaces being shut.

Beijing recorded 30 new local cases as at 3pm yesterday, while Shanghai reported three new cases yesterday. Meanwhile, Shanghai Disney Resort said yesterday that it will reopen Disneytown and Shanghai Disneyland Hotel tomorrow, after being shut since March 21.

REUTERS, BLOOMBERG