Beijing authorities have sealed off a mall and locked down several residential compounds over a Covid flare-up, as the latest outbreak spread to the Chinese capital’s central districts.
China has largely curbed widespread transmission of the coronavirus through snap lockdowns, mass testing and travel restrictions, but authorities are on high alert after a nationwide spike linked to domestic travel in the past month.
Six new cases were found in Beijing’s central districts of Chaoyang and Haidian Thursday morning, local media reported, all close contacts of people infected recently in northeastern Jilin province.
Raffles City mall in Dongcheng — also a central district in the capital — was sealed off Wednesday evening after a close contact of a person with Covid-19 was found to have visited the mall, the Beijing Youth Daily reported.
Its exits were closed, and all staff and customers inside were not allowed to leave until they got tested.