Bar-related COVID outbreak: 115 people infected, 6,158 quarantined in Beijing

Beijing: At least 115 people were found infected with COVID-19 while 6,158 were quarantined after a bar-related outbreak occurred as China relaxed coronavirus measures a few days ago in Beijing.

A Beijing health official on Saturday said that the outbreak that started at a bar in Beijing is at a rapidly spreading stage and the transmission risk remains high, Global Times reported.

More cases are expected to be discovered among visitors to the bar and their close contacts, deputy director of Beijing disease control and prevention center Liu Xiaofeng said during a press conference yesterday.

China’s capital Beijing is experiencing an “explosive” COVID-19 outbreak connected to a bar, a government spokesman said on Saturday.

Among 115 cases, 107 are visitors to the bar named Heaven Supermarket located in Sanlitun in Chaoyang district, including three people who work at the Universal Beijing Resort. Two are employees of the bar and the other six are those who contacted visitors at the bar, according to authorities.

Meanwhile, Beijing reported 34 confirmed locally transmitted COVID-19 cases and 31 local asymptomatic cases in the last 24 hours, the municipal health commission said Sunday.

A total of 24 patients in the Chinese capital were discharged from hospitals on Saturday, Xinhua news agency reported.

The economic impact of the zero-COVID strategy has also dented income. Fiscal revenue fell 4.8 per cent on the year for the four months through April, according to the Finance Ministry, owing mainly to tax refunds aimed at supporting businesses.

Borrowing had already been on the rise at the local level to fund growth-boosting infrastructure investment.

With Xi appearing intent on sticking to the zero-COVID policy, balancing control measures with economic stimulus will be a difficult task.

Beijing’s extreme lockdowns have led to protests and clashes between authorities and residents forced to stay home for weeks without normal access to food and medical supplies.

The harsh lockdowns look set to depress economic growth to lows last recorded in the early 1990s.