Hospital coronavirus clusters hit Beijing’s plans to get back to normal
- A second hospital in the Chinese capital has placed patients and staff under observation after a new outbreak was confirmed in a patient and her family
- Outbreak and rising number of cases at a second hospital mean city authorities will be forced to put back plans to ease restrictions
A second Beijing hospital reported an outbreak of Covid-19 on Thursday, hitting hopes the capital will be able to start getting back to normal.
The city had hoped to ease restrictions on movements and a ban on public gatherings that forced schools to shut down, but the new case, coupled with the news that the number of infections at the other hospital had risen to 36, means they are likely to have to put these back.
The new hospital outbreak was first confirmed in a female inpatient at Peking University People’s Hospital on February 18.
The previous day her daughter and son-in-law sought treatment in hospital’s fever clinic and later tested positive for the coronavirus that causes Covid-19, Liu Xiaoguang, deputy director of Peking University Health Science Centre, said.
The couple, whose names and ages have not been disclosed, returned from Xinjiang on January 19 and regularly visited the woman, who had been in hospital for six months and was being treated for pneumonia and undergoing dialysis. The ward banned visitors from February 9 onwards, Liu told a press conference.