International passengers line up at a distance of 1 meter between each other when handing in the health declaration cards at the Beijing Capital International Airport. Photo: Liu Xin/GT

Beijing reported three COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, who were all related to a student returning from the US, a Beijing Center for Disease Control and Prevention official revealed on Thursday.

The Chinese student was confirmed with the infection two days after leaving the centralized quarantine center in Beijing.

Pang Xinghuo, deputy director of the Beijing CDC, shared updates of the Beijing epidemic situation at a daily press conference on Thursday. The three new cases reported were the mother, younger brother and grandfather of the student, who returned from the US on March 24 and underwent a 14-day centralized quarantine.

During the quarantine, the patient took three nucleic acid tests with straight negative results, and then left the quarantine site on April 8.

However, the patient later showed fever, sore throat, and a decreasing appetite, which are all COVID-19 symptoms. The situation did not ease after he took antibiotics and cold pills.

The patient went to a fever clinic on April 13 and tested positive for the virus. He was reported as a confirmed case after his travel history, CT results, blood tests and other factors were taken into consideration.

After leaving the quarantine site, the first student lived with five family members including one housemaid.

The mother, younger brother and grandfather of the student showed symptoms such as fever and a dry cough starting Monday, one after another. They all tested positive for the virus.

According to the Beijing CDC, a primary probe has located 62 people who had close contact with the patients, and they all have been put under quarantine.

Officials at the Thursday event also urged that violators of home isolation regulations who leave their designated places without permission, if found, will be transferred to centralized quarantine sites, and they shall bear all costs and their quarantine term will be renewed for another 14 days.