Beijing Cancels Events As Covid Hits 17-Month Record

The latest wave in Beijing came fast and infected a larger number of people, creating a wider trajectory of disease, city government spokesperson Xu Hejian said. that makes prevention particularly difficult.

Beijing is hunkering down after experiencing more Covid infections in the current cluster than at any time in the past 17 months, with officials asking for events and activities to be moved online. 

Companies should cancel all conferences unless they are essential and take other steps to reduce public interaction as much as possible, authorities said at a press briefing held late on Thursday after seven cases were found in the Chinese capital in one day. Companies and individuals who host events will be held responsible, they said. 

Beijing has detected 45 cases in the latest wave, the most since June 2020. The country is struggling to contain its fourth outbreak with the more infectious delta variant in the past five months. With more than 1,000 locally-transmitted infections spread across 21 provinces, it is already the broadest flare-up since the virus first emerged in Wuhan. 

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