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Coronavirus China
ChinaPolitics

Beijing presses on with reopening as Covid-19 surge strains health system

  • Bars, gyms and other indoor venues can reopen and travel is resuming as city authorities urge a return to normal life
  • Five more people died on Monday and the local government says infections are ‘progressing rapidly’, pressuring medical supplies and healthcare

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Doctors prescribe medicines for Covid-19 patients at a makeshift fever clinic in Beijing, where restrictions are easing while infections rise. Photo: EPA-EFE
Zhenzhen Liu
Beijing has further eased pandemic control measures as Covid-19 surges through the Chinese capital, putting pressure on healthcare resources and causing shortages of drugs to treat the infection.
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The city recorded the deaths on Monday of five people, whose details were undisclosed, and 456 new Covid-19 cases. These followed two fatalities recorded on Sunday, but the true scale of the outbreak is beyond measure, with the dropping of PCR testing for individuals and no self-reporting mechanism for rapid antigen tests.

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Funeral homes busy as China reports first Covid deaths since easing of pandemic rules

Funeral homes busy as China reports first Covid deaths since easing of pandemic rules

Beijing government spokesman Xu Hejian said on Monday that the epidemic was “progressing rapidly”, putting pressure on the city’s supply of medicines and other healthcare resources.

Despite these pressures, city authorities had decided to continue easing restrictions to “resume work and normal life as soon as possible”, he said.

Indoor entertainment venues such as bars, karaoke parlours and gyms – where the virus is considered to spread easily – could reopen, along with events, banquets and conferences, which have been banned for months, Xu said.

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Travel agencies are also allowed to resume operation, with organised trips to the capital once again permitted.

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