Beijing extends COVID control measures amid local outbreak

A medic takes a swab sample from a man for nucleic acid test at Xidan area in Beijing, capital of China, May 14, 2022. (Xinhua/Peng Ziyang)

BEIJING, May 20 (Xinhua) -- Beijing will maintain strict and tight COVID-19 control measures as hidden community-level transmission has been discovered through recent screenings, a municipal official said at a press briefing Friday.

Dine-in services at restaurants will remain unavailable, and schools will continue suspending in-person classes, said Xu Hejian, a spokesperson for the Beijing municipal government.

Fengtai District will tighten epidemic control measures. People in the district should work from home. Bus and metro stations in Fengtai, except for those around two major railway stations, will be shut, Xu said.

People in Fangshan District are also encouraged to work from home, while enterprises in Haidian District will further reduce the number of employees at offices, Xu added.

The national capital reported 54 new locally transmitted COVID-19 infections between 3 p.m. Thursday and 3 p.m. Friday, said Liu Xiaofeng, deputy head of the Beijing municipal disease prevention and control center.

Fifty-two cases were detected among people under closed-off management, and two were found through mass screening in communities, said Liu.

Eleven COVID-19 infections have been detected on a campus of the Beijing Institute of Technology in Fangshan District since May 18. More than 670 teachers and students on the campus have been transferred to a centralized quarantine site, said Li Zhenjian, vice president of the university.

The national capital has classified 15 areas as high-risk for COVID-19 and 23 as medium-risk.