Beijing officials on Saturday ordered restaurants closed for indoor dining as they attempt to prevent a potential COVID outbreak in the nation’s capital.
Eateries may provide takeout services only, from Sunday through Wednesday, during China’s Labor Day holiday.
Authorities have issued additional orders closing schools, while limiting parks, scenic areas and entertainment venues to half capacity throughout the holiday.
The onerous actions come despite nearly non-existent incidents of COVID in Beijing. The city of 21.5 million people reported 300 cases of the virus over the past week, representing just 0.001 percent of the population, and zero deaths, according to official data.
Officials are trying to ward off an outbreak, and the draconian shutdowns, that for several weeks had paralyzed Shanghai, China’s largest city and a major global hub of transportation and finance.
Shanghai authorities announced Saturday they had detected zero COVID cases in the city of 26.3 million people.
Residents of Beijing’s heavily populated Chaoyang district will be subjected to mass COVID testing this week after it was designated a high-risk area by authorities.
With Post Wires