This archive report was first published on 17 June 2020.
As of June 17, 2020, Beijing has been grappling with a resurgence of COVID-19, with the number of new cases mounting over the past six days. The city's residents are facing a new reality, with daily life severely impacted by the outbreak.
Health officials reported 31 new confirmed infections for June 16, bringing the cumulative infections since Thursday to 137 cases, the worst resurgence of the disease in Beijing since early February. The city's authorities have stepped up measures to control movement around and to and from the city, with about 60% of scheduled flights to and from Beijing Capital International Airport cancelled as of Wednesday afternoon.
State media reported that rail officials were granting full refunds on all tickets to and from Beijing, an apparent bid to discourage people from travelling even though services have not been officially cancelled. Some 27 neighbourhoods were designated as medium-risk areas, where people entering are subjected to temperature checks and registration.
Residents are worried that Beijing is inching closer to a full lockdown, echoing the strict bans on movement earlier this year in the city of Wuhan, where the new coronavirus was first detected at a seafood market in December. “What I’m worried about is whether there will be a level one response like it was before, making it impossible for people to work,” said a 23-year-old media worker surnamed Wang.
The Beijing outbreak has been traced to the Xinfadi wholesale food centre in the southwest of the city. Xinfadi is much larger than the Wuhan seafood market, from where the virus spread around the world, infecting more than 8 million people.
