BEIJING: Beijing on Tuesday suspended majority of schools for a week as the city authorities attempt to stamp out a growing Covid-19 outbreak by consecutive rounds of mass tests, banning restaurant dining during the ongoing Labour Day holidays and making negative nucleic acid tests mandatory to enter public venues.
The city reported 62 infections reported on Tuesday for the day before, 11 of them showing no symptoms, up just slightly from about 50 per day over the weekend.
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Beijing has reported about 450 cases in the two-week-old outbreak.
Li Yi, a government spokesperson said on Tuesday that students of kindergartens, primary and middle schools would delay return date for a week to May 11 and hold online courses during the period of time.
“The exact return date will be decided based on the epidemic situation,” Li was quoted as saying in a state media report.
The city has implemented some restrictions, ordered mandatory tests and isolated a few communities but, has so far, not put in place sweeping citywide measures seen in Shanghai.
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The outward calm – aided of course by the low caseload – in the city reflects the Communist Party of China’s (CPC) desire not to let the outbreak in Beijing spiral into a Shanghai-like situation which has seen hundreds of thousands of Covid-19 cases and more than 400 deaths.
It is also important for the CPC to maintain a sense of control in a year when President Xi Jinping is seeking a groundbreaking third five-year term as party leader.
Starting Tuesday, the city began another three rounds of mass testing in 11 districts and the Yizhuang economic development zone in the next three days to curb the spread of Covid-19.
The epidemic control situation in the Chinese capital remains at “a critical stage”, city officials have said.
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“To curb virus transmission, municipal authorities are requiring that all residents present a negative nucleic acid test result taken within the past 48 hours if they wish to enter public places, including scenic areas, hotels and homestays, during the five-day May Day holiday that began on Saturday,” the Global Times reported on Tuesday.
Restaurants have been banned from providing dine-in services in the city from Sunday to Wednesday though food delivery is being allowed.
Meanwhile, Shanghai authorities fired four officials after an elderly patient from a Shanghai care home was believed to be dead and loaded into a hearse.
The person had been mistakenly declared dead but was found to be alive.
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The video of the incident, shared widely on Sunday, triggered a public outcry following which an investigation was launched and those involved fired.
Shanghai reported 274 confirmed locally transmitted Covid-19 cases and 5,395 local asymptomatic cases on Monday, the municipal health commission said Tuesday.
The city registered 20 Covid-19-related deaths on Monday, with an average age of 83.95 years old.
“Currently over half of Shanghai residents are living in the lower-risk ‘prevention areas’ according to the city’s latest readjustment of its three-tiered classification of Covid-19 risk areas,” official news agency, Xinhua reported Tuesday.
