BEIJING (AP) – Diners in much of Beijing returned to restaurants for the first time in more than a month on June 6, as authorities largely eliminated a small COVID-19 outbreak in the capital under China’s strict “zero” policy. , further easing pandemic-related restrictions. -COVID” approach.
Zhang Suyan said that as soon as she heard that the restaurant was open again, she called her friend and said, “Let’s make a reservation.”
“We don’t have that vibe or feel of home,” she said, as she and two friends finished a bowl of spicy fried crayfish, a popular summer meal.
Museums, movie theaters and gyms are allowed to operate at up to 75% capacity, and delivery drivers can once again deliver packages to customers’ doorsteps instead of having them pick up at apartment entrances.
Nearly normal conditions have returned to almost everywhere in Beijing, except for parts of one region and another, where the outbreak persists. Schools that partially reopened earlier will fully reopen on June 13, followed by kindergarten on June 20.
Authorities carried out rounds of mass testing and locked down buildings and complexes when infections were detected to contain an outbreak that has infected about 1,800 people in a city of 22 million in six weeks.
The ruling Communist Party remains committed to a “zero-coronavirus” strategy that costs the economy and inconveniences millions, although many other countries have adopted more lenient measures as vaccination rates rise and treatment becomes more widespread Methods.
When restaurants in Beijing restricted takeout and delivery, sales dropped by 70%, said Chen Feng, manager of Crayfish Restaurant. Customers began to line up on the evening of June 5, and he and his colleagues served 350 people from midnight to 2 a.m.
In Shanghai, a population of 25 million went through a city-wide lockdown, with most confined to their apartments or communities for up to two months.
The city reopened the previous week, but restaurants remained closed except for delivery and takeout. A community conducted more mass testing on June 5 after new cases were detected in a residential complex that has now been locked down for 14 days.
In Beijing and Shanghai, anyone entering subways or office buildings, shopping malls or other public places must present a negative test result within the past 72 hours. People lined up at testing stations set up around the city to meet the demands.
All ferries in Shanghai, bisected by the Huangpu River, resumed normal operations on June 6.
Organisers also postponed the Shanghai International Film Festival, originally scheduled to take place this month, to next year.
