• Most primary and middle school students in Beijing will not return to school next week.
• Illness related to a bar cluster has prompted officials to partially reverse decision to resume in-person teaching.
• China recorded 138 domestic infections on Saturday, including 61 in Beijing and 16 in Shanghai.

BEIJING: Most children in Beijing will not return to school as planned next week, according to Chinese officials, after a looming Covid-19 outbreak caused authorities to partially reconsider a decision to restart in-person teaching.

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However, virus outbreaks in recent months have put that strategy to the test. Shanghai was put on a months-long lockdown, while Beijing’s schools were closed and its inhabitants were told to work from home.

Many limits were loosened earlier this week in Beijing, but dozens of infections related to a bar have prompted authorities to tighten other restrictions.

Most primary and middle school students would “continue to study online at home” beginning Monday, according to Xu Hejian, a local government official, at a press conference on Saturday.

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So far, 115 illnesses have been traced to the bar cluster, according to local health director Liu Xiaofeng at the press conference.

As per Liu, the new outbreak was “at a rapidly developing stage … and at a relatively high risk of spreading.”

On Saturday, more than 20 million individuals in Shanghai launched a mass testing drive under temporary lockdown conditions, according to municipal governments.

As per the National Health Commission, China recorded 138 domestic infections on Saturday, including 61 in Beijing and 16 in Shanghai.