Beijing faces severe COVID-19 situation

Medical workers at a residential area under strict control after COVID-19 cases were found in Haidian district of Beijing, March 8, 2022. (PHOTO / /IC)

Beijing is facing a severe and complicated COVID-19 epidemic control and prevention situation, with seven new locally transmitted cases reported between Monday and 4 pm Tuesday, a senior official said, adding that the patients include a family cluster.

As COVID-19 outbreaks are still hitting many areas in China and overseas, Beijing is facing a severe prevention and control situation, with the major threat from outside the capital, Xu Hejian, a spokesman for the Beijing municipal government, said at a news conference on Tuesday afternoon.

"The authorities should tighten measures on people returning to Beijing from other areas in the country so that a 48-hour valid negative nucleic acid testing result and green health code are both required on arrival," he said. "All companies in Beijing should strictly follow the prevention and control measures involving group events, meetings and training classes. Video conferences are recommended for such activities."

Three of the seven new locally transmitted cases are in the capital's Haidian district and four in its Chaoyang district, said Pang Xinghuo, deputy director of the Beijing Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

The four cases in Chaoyang are from one family-an elder sister, a younger brother, their mother and great-grandmother.

Health authorities in Chaoyang triggered an emergency response mechanism, launched an epidemiological investigation and a nucleic acid testing campaign, and placed areas involved under strict control after the two children tested positive for COVID-19 in a preliminary screening.

The Chaoyang district government was notified by the disease control and prevention center in Beijing's Tongzhou district on Monday after the two children, who live in Chaoyang, tested positive for the novel coronavirus at Tongzhou Maternal and Child Health Care Hospital.

The three cases in Haidian include a married couple. The husband returned from Shanghai on China Eastern Airlines' flight MU5121 on Feb 27.

The other patient in Haidian developed a fever on Sunday and arrived at a local hospital on Monday, where a nucleic acid test confirmed they were infected.

The municipal health authority has released details of the movements of all the patients and has asked residents to report to their local communities if they have been to the same places at the same time.

dujuan@chinadaily.com.cn