Beijing reports 16 confirmed COVID-19, five asymptomatic cases

BEIJING, April 24 (Xinhua) -- Beijing reported 16 confirmed COVID-19 cases and five asymptomatic cases between 4 p.m. Saturday and 4 p.m. Sunday, according to local disease prevention and control center.

A total of 41 infections have been logged since Friday, involving five districts, said Pang Xinghuo, deputy head of the Beijing municipal disease prevention and control center.

Preliminary epidemiological investigations indicate that the virus has spread for a week, with multiple generations of cases appearing in a short period of time, Pang said.

Nearly a quarter of the 41 cases are aged 60 or above, half of whom have not been vaccinated, according to Pang.

One neighborhood in the city's Chaoyang District has been classified as a high-risk area, and another as a medium-risk area.

Yang Beibei, deputy head of Chaoyang District, said that 1,230 close contacts have been identified and 14 areas have been placed under closed-off management in the district. District-wide nucleic acid testing will be organized from Monday.

Yang said that the district has suspended all offline training sessions and group activities at various off-campus training institutions.