Jun 16, 2020 - World

Beijing closes schools to contain coronavirus outbreak

Jacob Knutson

People shopping in Beijing on June 16. Photo: Artyom Ivanov/TASS via Getty Images

Beijing's government ordered all schools in the city to close Tuesday in an effort to contain a new coronavirus outbreak which has spread to neighboring provinces, Bloomberg reports.

Why it matters: The Chinese capital, home to more than 21 million people, has so far reported 106 new infections and raised its emergency response to level two — meaning people must be tested for the virus before they can leave the city.

New cases in two northern neighboring provinces have also been linked to the outbreak in Beijing.
The city government also closed another food market after a case linked to the original cluster was discovered there.
11 other food markets have been closed and almost 300 others sanitized, and multiple housing compounds have been put under lockdown.

The big picture: Government officials in Beijing must now balance containment policies with recovery efforts as strict lockdown measures would undo some of the progress the country has made in reopening its economy.

Local officials said the city can conduct more than 90,000 coronavirus tests per day. It tested more than 70,000 people on Sunday.

Go deeper: China's V-shaped coronavirus recovery looks too good to be true

Add Axios on Google

Beijing closes schools to contain coronavirus outbreak

What to read next