Beijing police investigating bar that hosted infection cluster

The Beijing police have launched an investigation of the Heaven Supermarket bar, as well as the person in charge, on suspicion of interfering with the prevention and control of infectious diseases, said Pan Xuhong, spokesman of the Beijing police bureau, at a news conference on Tuesday.

The bar, located in the Sanlitun area of Chaoyang district, has led to 287 infections since Thursday.

Pan said the bar failed to follow epidemic control and prevention procedures including temperature taking and checking nucleic acid test results of customers. It has also not kept the number of customers at a reasonable level, which has led to a rapid increase of infections in the following days.

In addition to the criminal case, departments in the capital including tourism, health, commerce, market supervision, public security and culture will conduct a joint investigation of the bar's suspected administrative violations.

The city has conducted a city-wide check on epidemic control and prevention procedures in all entertainment venues, including all bars, nightclubs, karaoke bars and internet cafes. All the places that had not followed procedures have been closed, Zhou Weimin, an official from the city's culture and tourism bureau, said on Tuesday.