An outbreak in Beijing of covid-19 is causing alarm

“THE SAFETY and stability of the capital has a direct impact on the overall work of the party and government.” So Xi Jinping, China’s leader, reminded officials in February, as he urged them to pay particular attention to keeping Beijing free of covid-19. For most of the past eight weeks, city officials have had reason to feel chuffed, with no new cases involving local transmission (and usually only a handful at most every day elsewhere in China). Indeed, life had returned almost to normal in the capital, except for the rarity of foreign faces—the country’s borders remain shut to most non-citizens. Then the mood in Beijing suddenly changed.