Beijing closes venues again and limits capacity

The Chinese capital of more than 20 million inhabitants, has increased precautions and some venues began to close preventively or limit their capacity due to a resurgence of covid which left 19 new symptomatic patients and one asymptomatic on the eve. The Beijing Health Commission requested that the inhabitants of the city “do not leave it if it is not necessary” and announced the cessation of the operation of organized tourist trips in the capital from other provinces.

In addition, the holding of forums, meetings and other non-essential events is restricted, said the health authorities, who warned that the person who approves the organization of this type of meeting “will be responsible” in case problems arise later.

Museums, parks, movie theaters and other public places will have to limit their capacity to 75%. Likewise, people who are in cities where a case of covid-19 has been registered in the previous 14 days will not be able to travel to Beijingfor which airports, stations and other transport centers in the country will have to establish controls to guarantee that passengers have a green code in the capital’s health application before boarding.

The Universal theme park in Beijing declared its provisional closure on Wednesday before the regrowth, which the authorities described today as “basically controlled”.

The people of Peking have been facing some of the restrictions for months due to the strictest pandemic in the world: it is mandatory to present a negative PCR test carried out in the previous 72 hours to access any public place.

Company limits

In addition, numerous companies, both public and private, limit the movements of their employees, who are often prohibited from leaving Beijing, in some cases for more than two years.

China remains clinging to the “zero covid” policywhich consists of the isolation of all those infected and their close contacts, strict border control and massive PCR test campaigns, limitations on mobility and selective or total confinement wherever a case is detected.

Recently, and despite the signs of exhaustion on the part of the Chinese population that have led to protests in some casesthe health authorities of the Asian giant reiterated that the “zero covid” strategy is “the most economical and scientific” for the country because “it quickly detects new infections and contains the spread at the lowest cost and as soon as possible.”

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During the recent celebration of the 20th Congress of the Chinese Communist Party, which required two to five day quarantines for reporters covering it, there were no signs that the ruling party plans to adjust policy in the near future.

According to the accounts of the country’s health institutions, since the start of the pandemic, 258,167 people have been infected in the country and 5,226 have died, although the total number of infected people excludes asymptomatic people.