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BEIJING (REUTERS, XINHUA) – Beijing has tightened Covid-19 restrictions on concerns that mass travel from China during the holiday period could cause a spike in cases in the capital as it reported local transmission cases for a fourth day consecutive on Sunday (December 27).
A meeting led by the head of the capital’s Communist Party, Mr. Cai Qi, urged all districts of Beijing to go into emergency mode, sealing residential complexes and villages where infections are found.
Shunyi District, where all recent coronavirus cases have been reported, has declared a mode of war and testing for all of its 800,000 people. All of the cases reported Saturday were close contacts of previous cases.
The Chaoyang District, neighboring Shunyi, has finished testing 234,413 people in three neighborhoods, and none tested positive. People who have not received their test results cannot leave, the district government said.
Some residential complexes in Tongzhou have reimposed temperature controls at the entrance and the number of entrances has been reduced, according to local media reports.
Shunyi District Deputy Executive Director Zhi Xianwei said the district activated an emergency response plan, conducting epidemiological surveys, source tracing, nucleic acid testing, community management and environmental disinfection.
China has largely controlled the coronavirus, but sporadic cases are re-emerging in a small number of cities.
Authorities plan to vaccinate 50 million people in high-risk groups ahead of the week-long Lunar New Year holiday starting Feb. 11, the state-run Global Times said.
Beijing has asked its officials to stay in the city from January 1 until the holiday and asked the public to avoid unnecessary travel during the period.
Public places like theme parks and churches have reduced operating hours. Some Catholic churches in Beijing, including the Wangfujing Catholic Church, have stopped admitting parishioners and halted group activities, the Archdiocese of Beijing said on its website.
The Chinese mainland reported 22 recently confirmed Covid-19 cases, including 12 locally transmitted cases and 10 from outside the mainland, the National Health Commission said on Sunday.
Seven of the locally transmitted cases were reported in northeast China’s Liaoning Province, while five were reported in Beijing, the commission said in its daily report.
No new suspected cases or deaths related to the disease were reported on Saturday.
Meanwhile, China’s aviation regulator said on Sunday that the suspension of flights to and from the United Kingdom would last until January 10.
The regulator’s announcement came after the Foreign Office said China would suspend direct flights to the UK for fear of a new strain of the coronavirus.
The total number of confirmed Covid-19 cases on the continent reached 86,955 on Saturday and 4,634 had died as a result of the virus, according to the National Health Commission.
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