Beijing probes bar at the centre of latest outbreak
BEIJING: Chinese authorities on Tuesday launched a multi-department probe into a 24-hour bar in Beijing at the centre of rapidly spreading Covid-19 outbreak that has triggered mass tests, sent thousands of contacts to centralised quarantine facilities and closed down entertainment venues across the capital.
A joint team comprising officials from several departments including health and public security will work together to investigate the Heaven Supermarket bar, “quickly, strictly and seriously”, the state-backed Beijing Daily reported on Tuesday.
The bar is located in a popular area of Beijing’s most populous district, Chaoyang, with many bars and restaurants.
The Heaven Supermarket bar had reopened for in-dining on June 6, the very day when the latest outbreak was triggered by an individual said to have not taken Covid-19 test for days.
As a result, Chaoyang began a three-day mass testing on Monday for its roughly 3.5 million residents. The renewal of daily testing comes days after Beijing eased restrictions on movement and allowed staggered testing after seemingly bringing under control the ongoing outbreak, which started on April 22.
About 10,000 close contacts of the bar’s patrons have been identified, authorities said, adding that their residential buildings have been locked down.
From June 9 to 3pm on June 13, the city reported 228 infections in the Covid-19 cluster related to the bar across 100 communities; overall, Beijing has reported over 2,000 cases since April 22. People infected in the outbreak live or work in 14 of the capital’s 16 districts, authorities have said.
Chinese vice-premier Sun Chunlan on Monday urged solid and meticulous Covid-19 prevention and control work in Beijing in order to contain the spread of the epidemic as soon as possible.
Sun, according to Xinhua, made the remarks during an inspection tour of the Covid-19 prevention and control work in the national capital, where she visited sites hit by the latest wave of infections.
Chinese city mayor apologises for failures
The mayor of a northeastern Chinese city on the North Korean border that has been under lockdown for more than 50 days has apologised for failures in his administration’s work amid widespread - but often disguised - dissatisfaction over the government’s heavyhanded approach to handling the pandemic.
Dandong Mayor Hao Jianjun gave no specifics, but said government work and basic services had been “unsatisfactory”, for which he offered his apologies, according to a statement issued by the city government late on Monday.
Canada to end vaccine mandate for local travel
The Canadian government on Tuesday was to announce an end to Covid-19 vaccine mandates for domestic travel on planes and trains and outgoing international travel.
The government, which has faced criticism over ongoing pandemic restrictions, may bring back the vaccine mandate if a new variant of the virus is discovered, the report added.
Canada’s curbs have included barring unvaccinated people from travelling on airplanes and vaccine mandates for federal civil servants.