BEIJING ( Associated Press) — The Chinese capital has once again closed schools and resumed classes remotely in one of its main districts amid a new COVID-19 outbreak linked to a nightclub, while life has yet to return. back to normal in Shanghai despite the lifting of a lockdown of more than two months.
China has maintained its “zero COVID” policy, requiring mass testing, quarantine and isolation of anyone who has been in contact with an infected person in concentrated places where hygiene is often poor.
A total of 228 cases have been linked to the Heaven Supermarket nightclub, located in the Estadio de los Trabajadores entertainment area, after an infected person went there on Thursday. Of these, 180 were clients, four were staff members and 44 were people with whom the clients had subsequently come into contact.
The entire area, along with the adjacent Sanlitun shopping and dining complex, was closed until further notice.
The outbreak prompted the sprawling Chaoyang district to revert to remote classes, with the exception of students taking middle and high school level exams. Sporting events in the city have also been suspended.
Chaoyang, home to more than 3 million people, has ordered three consecutive days of mass testing, with long queues forming and waiting times of two hours or more in some places.
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Associated Press reporter Si Chen in Shanghai contributed to this report.
