Beijing's daily cases remain high, may delay planned reopening

BEIJING • Beijing recorded more than 50 Covid-19 cases for the fifth day in a row as the authorities crack down on venues linked to the outbreak, including starting a criminal probe into management of a bar at the centre of the latest flare-up.

The capital reported 63 infections for Tuesday, following 74 on Monday. Cases have spiked in recent days, having dropped to single digits last week.

The management of the Heaven Supermarket Bar that has been linked to at least 287 cases is under criminal investigation for potentially breaching Covid-19 control and prevention protocols.

Beijing reported seven cases yesterday as at 3pm (3pm Singapore time), with the tally likely to go up for the full day. Shops and restaurants in the Sanlitun area of the Chaoyang district in eastern Beijing, where the bar is located, have been closed since Monday.

With daily cases remaining high, authorities may be prompted to delay today's planned reopening. At least two shopping malls in Chaoyang were also temporarily shut as infected people appear to have visited restaurants there.

Most schools delayed a reopening that was planned for Monday, while all sports competitions were halted. The authorities earlier this week closed more bars, movie theatres, gyms and other venues deemed to be "potential magnifiers" of the outbreak.

The jump in cases and reinstatement of restrictions just days after they started to be eased shows the difficulties of stamping out the more contagious virus variants.

The situation was similar in Shanghai, which will conduct mass testing to detect Covid-19 cases in residential compounds every weekend through the end of next month as the authorities remain wary of new infection chains.

A temporary lockdown will also be imposed on those residential complexes where a Covid-19 case was detected in the week leading up to the weekend testing, a Shanghai Municipal Health Commission official said at a briefing yesterday.

The lockdown would be lifted once everyone in the compound has been tested, he said.

Shanghai residents need to take nucleic acid tests at least once a week until the end of next month. Employees at supermarkets, barbershops, pharmacies, shopping malls and restaurants need to conduct such tests daily. Delivery workers need to do both nucleic acid and antigen tests on a daily basis.

Staff at banks, petrol companies and industrial entities should do an antigen test every day.

Shanghai reported two new cases outside of quarantine facilities yesterday and sent scores of close contacts to quarantine to prevent further spread.

BLOOMBERG