Beijing warns of 'explosive' outbreak linked to popular bar

SHANGHAI • China's capital Beijing is facing an "explosive" Covid-19 outbreak connected to a bar, a government spokesman has warned, as the commercial hub of Shanghai began mass testing to contain a jump in cases tied to a popular beauty salon.

The warning followed a renewed tightening of Covid-19 curbs in Beijing since last Thursday, with at least two districts - including its most populous, Chaoyang - closing certain entertainment venues after a flare-up in a busy neighbourhood known for its nightlife, shopping and streets of embassies.

While China's infection rate is low by global standards, President Xi Jinping has doubled down on a zero-tolerance policy that authorities say is needed to protect the elderly and the medical system, even as other countries try to live with the virus. The country of 1.4 billion people has seen a total of just 5,226 fatalities.

Beijing's latest cases have been linked to a drinking establishment known as Heaven Supermarket Bar. Infections have since surged, with Beijing saying yesterday that all of the 61 new cases uncovered in the city on Friday had either visited the bar or had links to it.

Heaven Supermarket Bar is a popular watering hole known for its wide selection of booze and low prices. It has several branches in Beijing alone and more in other Chinese cities.

"The recent outbreak of cases related to Heaven Supermarket Bar is strongly explosive in nature and widespread in scope, and the composition of the individuals involved is also complex," Mr Xu Hejian, spokesman for the Beijing municipal government, said at a news briefing. He added that most primary and middle school students will "continue to study online at home" from tomorrow, partly reversing an earlier decision to resume in-person teaching.

The capital reported 46 new local cases yesterday, health official Liu Xiaofeng told the same briefing. So far, 115 cases and 6,158 close contacts linked to the bar have been reported, throwing the city of 22 million people back into a state of anxiety.

In Shanghai, city officials announced three new confirmed local cases and one asymptomatic case detected outside quarantined areas yesterday, as nearly all the city's 25 million residents began a new round of Covid-19 tests.

The authorities have ordered polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing for all residents in 15 of Shanghai's 16 districts this weekend, with five districts barring residents from leaving their homes during the testing period.

Shanghai residents should complete at least one PCR test a week until July 31, a city official told a press conference yesterday.

The new tests come just 10 days after the city lifted a two-month lockdown aimed at eliminating the community spread of Covid-19.

"I am a little bit worried because if there are positive cases in the compound, it will be put into a sealed situation," said Shanghai resident Shi Weiqi.

Shanghai authorities said they had also reprimanded and dismissed several district-level officials for lapses at a hotel that was used to quarantine arrivals from overseas, pinpointed as one of the sources of the city's wave of the Omicron variant of coronavirus.

They also said they had warned or dismissed some executives at a state-owned firm that operated the Red Rose beauty salon, where three cases were found among workers last week. The salon's employees had not followed guidelines to undertake PCR testing daily, they said.

Meanwhile, Hong Kong recorded a total of 851 new daily Covid-19 cases yesterday, the highest number in almost two months.

REUTERS, BLOOMBERG, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE