China’s decidedly zero covid policy has kept the virus at bay for more than two years, but lately it is facing its worst outbreak since the pandemic began thanks to a wave fed through Omicron.
Millions of others across the country, particularly in Shanghai’s economic engine, have been forced to stay home for weeks as shutdowns slow economic expansion and investor confidence in the world’s second-largest economy.
So far, Beijing has reported more than 300 cases as part of the existing wave, and on Saturday the government banned food establishments in the city from Sunday to May 4, in a bid to curb infections during a holiday that is usually a period of peak annual consumption.
“It will have a definite effect on sales,” an employee at a restaurant nicknamed An told AFP as she searched for consumers in Beijing’s Dongcheng district, home to historic attractions such as the Forbidden City.
Nearby restaurants have closed, with some allowing consumers to order takeout if they have a negative covid test.
This restriction is the verification measure ordered through the Beijing authorities, who say that all visitors to public spaces will have to have a negative verification result within the last 48 hours.
“Of course, we will abide by the country’s rules,” An said. But “we benefit less from delivery and our sales volume is lower. “
The Temple of Heaven, one of China’s biggest ancient attractions, is packed with tens of thousands of visitors a day pushing themselves. But on Sunday, masked families can take selfies without interruption throughout the imperial complex.
Even the grocery shopping street in the center of Wangfujing, a shopping paradise with food stalls and trendy shops, was deserted.
In a place to eat not far from the unusually quiet Forbidden City Palace complex, piles of marinated bird legs, unleavened breads, and cold cuts in to-go boxes languished on a table as staff chatted lazily inside.
“Obviously, it’s bad for our own interest, but in general it’s mandatory for the country’s intelligence,” said a young waiter who did not give his name.
“We sell 10,000 yuan ($1,500) worth of food a day, but now it only costs between 1,000 and 2,000 yuan ($300),” he added.
Instead of entering the Forbidden City, lines of other people waited outside the palace complex to take a swab – a new general for Beijing residents.
About 30 kilometers (24 miles) east of the palace on the outskirts of the city, Universal Studios, Beijing’s largest western theme park with Jurassic World and Harry Potter themed spaces, announced its indefinite closure on Sunday.
It was presented in September and has received more than two million visitors in five months.
The Labor Day holiday was meant to be a major publicity stunt for the park, which earlier this week had first required a negative Covid test within 24 hours of the visit.
The capital reported 59 new infections on Sunday, while the government announced the reopening of a Covid quarantine hospital that has been mobilized since the first wave of the pandemic in 2020.
All indoor fitness activities, such as gyms and public swimming pools, were suspended from Sunday through May 4, while the government says some 4,000 makeshift hospital beds had been prepared and larger quarantine centers were being built.
“There are still a small number of hidden inflamed (patients) discovered through network detection,” Beijing fitness leader Pang Xinghuo said at a news conference on Sunday.
“The epidemic is globally in an era of higher plateau. “
Meanwhile, in Shanghai, officials said Sunday that “the threat of network transmission has been reduced well” and that daily infections tend to decline.
The financial center of another 25 million people has been blocked for about a month, and citizens complain about food shortages and lack of timely medical care.