Beijing reopens restaurants amid drop in COVID-19 infections

Diners returned to restaurants across most of Beijing on Monday for the first time in more than a month as authorities continued to ease pandemic-related restrictions after virtually eradicating a small outbreak of the virus. COVID-19 under China’s strict “zero COVID” policy.

Museums, cinemas and gyms could operate at 75% of their capacity and drivers could once again deliver their packages to customers’ doors, instead of leaving them on the doorsteps of apartment buildings.

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The return to near normality was seen everywhere in beijingexcept for one district and part of another where the outbreak persisted. The schools, which had partially reopened, would do so completely until June 13, followed by kindergartens on June 20.

Authorities did several rounds of mass testing and closed buildings and residential complexes when cases were identified., to end an outbreak that infected 1,800 cases in six weeks, in a city of 22 million people. The number of new cases fell to six on Sunday.

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The ruling Communist Party China remains committed to its strategy of “zero COVID”, which represents an economic cost and inconvenience for millions of people, while many other countries opt for more relaxed strategies due to the rise in vaccination rates and greater availability of treatments.

In Shanghai, a population of 25 million people endured a citywide quarantine that kept most people confined to their apartments or neighborhoods for two months. The city reopened last week, but restaurants remained closed except for delivery and takeout. A neighborhood was doing more mass testing Monday after identifying new cases at a housing complex, which is now under a 14-day quarantine.

In both Beijing and Shanghai, anyone entering subways, office buildings, shopping malls and other public venues must show a negative test result from the past 72 hours. People lined up at testing stations set up in cities to meet the requirements.

All ferries in Shanghai, a city divided by the Huangpu River, resumed normal business on Monday. But organizers have postponed the Shanghai International Film Festival, which was scheduled to take place this month, until next year.

Elsewhere, the government was battling infections in China’s Inner Mongolia region, where 39 new cases were reported on Sunday, and in the northeastern city of Dandong, which has seen some 130 cases in the past two weeks. Dandong is on the border with North Korea, which first acknowledged an outbreak last month.

Source: Elcomercio

Ronald Payne

I, Ronald Payne, am a journalist and author who dedicated his life to telling the stories that need to be said. I have over 7 years of experience as a reporter and editor, covering everything from politics to business to crime.