Chinese city of Harbin bans dining in restaurants as it steps up coronavirus battle
- Capital of Heilongjiang province issues order as it battles to contain second wave of coronavirus infections
- State Council has sent team to lead province’s response to outbreak after officials were punished for their handling of the situation
The authorities in Harbin in northeastern China, have banned restaurants from offering dine-in services to stop a second wave of Covid-19 cases.
Heilongjiang province is currently battling dozens of cases of the disease – many linked to people returning from overseas – and the latest order shows the challenges of containing the outbreak as China tries to gradually reopen its economy.
In a notice issued on Friday, Harbin’s anti-epidemic office ordered all restaurants in the provincial capital to suspend dine-in services indefinitely until the situation improves. Those found breaching the rules will be punished severely.
The order came after China’s State Council sent a team to guide the provincial response to Covid-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus, and local officials were punished for not keeping the spread of the virus under control.
Heilongjiang’s party chief Zhang Qingwei admitted shortcomings in the province’s coronavirus control measures and vowed to do better on Friday after meeting with the task force, according to Heilongjiang Daily newspaper.
“Our province will learn from these lessons and change pressure into action. [We] will diligently carry out all epidemic control measures … and improve infection prevention in hospitals,” he told the newspaper.