Beijing has not recorded coronavirus transmission outside the quarantined compounds for three consecutive days as of Saturday, and the transmission chain of the Heaven Supermarket bar-related outbreak has been squashed, said a city official.

The capital has weathered the unprecedented challenges and risks during the recent 10 days since the newest outbreak took place on June 9, Xu Hejian, the spokesperson of the Beijing government, said at a Saturday conference. Yet the city has not seen new COVID-19 cases outside the quarantined area for three days, and the transmission chain of the current outbreak has been squashed, said Xu.

Beijing recorded a total of nine COVID-19 cases for Friday, all of them related to the raucous Heaven Supermarket Bar, the epicenter of the capital city's latest outbreak. This marks the first time the number of confirmed cases has dropped to a single digit since the newest outbreak attacked Beijing last week.

All the cases were found in quarantined areas, local authorities said on Saturday. Beijing is also scheduled to resume on Sunday the operation of subway stations that were closed due to the outbreak.

Residents scan QR codes to have their health status registered at the entrance of a residential area in Zhongguancun of Haidian District, Beijing, capital of China, June 12, 2022. Photo: Xinhua

As of Friday, a total of 369 cases were reported during the outbreak linked to the Heaven Supermarket since June 9.

"The continuous declining of cases surely is a positive trend that means we may already be at the tail of this outbreak," said a Beijing-based immunologist, who declined to give his name. But the immunologist believed that even if this outbreak was effectively staunched, sporadic cases may still emerge in the city, as the source of the Heaven Supermarket Bar remain unknown.

The recent outbreak was triggered by a customer of the bar last week who had not taken a test for 14 days prior to his visit of the bar. Beijing has been asking all its residents to undergo a nucleic acid test every three days, and if not, the health code will send notifications. People are also required to show their health codes before entering any public places.

Yet the immunologist believed with effective testing and quarantine measures in hand, and accumulated experience in battling the more infectious Omicron variant, Beijing won't experience a major outbreak in the near future. "The hot weather also helps [in cutting off the viral transmission]," he added.

During a press conference on Friday, Liu Xiaofeng, deputy head of the Beijing municipal centers for disease prevention and control, said that Beijing is seeing a positive trend in containing the virus, yet there should be no relaxation of antivirus prevention efforts, and urged people to stick to all virus prevention policies.

Since the outbreak in Heaven Supermarket, Beijing has conducted sweeping examination of public places, especially entertainment venues and restaurants in Chaoyang district, where the bar is located, of their implementation of COVID-19 prevention policies.

A total of 68 companies, including some barbecue restaurants in Chaoyang district, were warned for failed efforts in carrying out COVID-19 prevention measures.

Several other employees at public service sectors in Beijing, including a branch at Beijing Municipal People's Procuratorate, were also punished for violating COVID-19 policies by gathering for drinking.