Now Shenzhen | June 16, 2022
Beijing on Monday canceled all sports events and postponed the resumption of face-to-face classes in schools due to the bar-related cluster infections which have involved 228 COVID-19 cases in 100 communities as of Monday.
The decision was made because the resurgence occurred in a sudden manner, spread extensively and involved people of different groups, according to the municipal sports authority.
The new outbreaks, centering on a bar named Heaven Supermarket in the Sanlitun area of Chaoyang district, are still in a development phase and have spread to 100 communities in 14 districts plus the Yizhuang economic and technological development zone.
Beijing's nightlife lovers would not have predicted that their regular Heaven Supermarket Bar would soon become known throughout Beijing, not because of its affordable prices, wide variety of drinks and easily accessible booths, but because of a cluster of infections of COVID-19.
Starting on June 9, the name Heaven Supermarket Bar began to appear frequently in the daily epidemiological surveys of infected persons published by the Beijing government. At that time, Beijing was coming out of the shadow of an outbreak that had lasted more than a month and had not reported any new cases at the community level for several days. Then, Heaven Supermarket Bar made itself known.
Beijing's health authorities said the new outbreak, with Heaven Supermarket Bar as the key transmission point, was a continuation of the previous outbreak that began in April and stemmed from undetected and insidious transmission. What most Beijingers did not anticipate was how quickly the rekindled fire spread to 14 of the city's 16 districts. Within five days, a total of 228 infections in over 100 communities were reported, of which 180 visited Heaven Supermarket, four were staff, and 44 were associated with bar-goers and staff. More than 10,000 people were determined to be close contacts of the outbreak.
After the bar-related outbreak, districts including Chaoyang and Dongchen have ordered the closure of entertainment venues, including bars, KTVs and internet cafes.
ARTICLE FROM: GICExpat