Beijing man’s COVID-19 guideline violation send thousands of people into quarantine

A Beijing man put thousands of his neighbors in quarantine after ignoring a stay-at-home order and testing positive for COVID-19, triggering a police probe.

Over the last five weeks, the Chinese capital has ordered hundreds of thousands of citizens to stay at home in order to contain the city’s greatest coronavirus epidemic since the pandemic began.

Officials stated on Sunday that a man in his 40s called Sun had failed to fulfill a need to isolate he was told after visiting a “high risk” retail mall.

“During the home isolation period he… went out many times and walked in the neighborhood,” said Beijing public security official Pan Xuhong.

Sun and his wife later tested positive, prompting authorities to lock down 5,000 of their neighbors at home and send 250 to a government quarantine center.

It comes as officials in Beijing began to relax virus restrictions on Monday, reopening parks, museums, and theatres and proclaiming the epidemic under control.

China is committed to eradicating COVID-19 clusters through severe lockdowns, mass testing, and lengthy quarantine periods.

There are severe repercussions for disobeying the guidelines, and Sun is currently being investigated by authorities.

Since late April, Beijing’s omicron-fueled cluster has seen over 1,700 illnesses — a small amount by global standards, but alarming for China’s rigorous attitude to the virus.

The number of reported cases has declined dramatically in the last week.

“There have been no new cases found in society (outside quarantine centers) for two days,” Xu Hejian, a spokesman for the Beijing government, said Sunday.

“The situation is stable and improving… but the risk of a rebound still exists.”

The majority of bus, metro, and taxi services in three of the capital’s most populated districts resumed operating on Monday, and millions of people were ordered to return to work.

A few tai chi practitioners and neighbors were enjoying the warm weather in a newly reopened downtown park.

“I think people are waiting to see whether there will be new cases before coming out in large numbers,” said Zhi Ruo, a government employee who had brought his five-year-old child out to play.

Schools remain closed and Beijing still requires a negative COVID-19 test to enter public facilities, including supermarkets.

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