Beijing Covid Cases at Four-Month High as Top Party Leaders Meet
Beijing’s Covid-19 infections swelled to the highest in four months, stoking concerns about potential curbs for the capital as the flareup worsens in the middle of the twice-a-decade party congress.
(Bloomberg) -- Beijing’s Covid-19 infections swelled to the highest in four months, stoking concerns about potential curbs for the capital as the flareup worsens in the middle of the twice-a-decade party congress.
The city detected 41 cases on Tuesday, according to the municipal health commission, the most since mid-June. While no major restrictions have been implemented so far, buildings and compounds connected to positive patients, as well as their close contacts, have been locked down.
The capital has also shut one primary school after multiple students were infected, and officials have vowed to strengthen virus controls at educational institutions. Beijing’s Center for Disease Control and Prevention has warned there are multiple transmission chains in the city and efforts to rein in transmission could be complicated.
Read more: Xi Defends Covid Zero Without Showing China Path Out of Pandemic
Chinese President Xi Jinping defended the Covid Zero policy over the weekend, while avoiding setting a timeline on when the country may shift away from measures that have curbed economic growth and stoked growing discontent. China’s propaganda machine went into overdrive in the lead up to the congress, saying the zero-tolerance approach -- a cornerstone of Xi’s leadership -- has saved a large number of lives in contrast to the death tolls seen in nations that have pivoted to living with the virus.
Nationwide, China reported 820 new cases. The northwestern region of Xinjiang, which has put some cities under extended lockdown, had 122 cases. Guangdong province reported 97 infections, with more than half of them found in the capital Guangzhou.
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