Commuters wear masks on a bus in Beijing   Source: VCG

Several schools in Beijing have ordered some students at high risk of infection to stay at home and parts of several hospitals have been closed as pressure on the capital to contain the coronavirus is increasing. This comes as the situation worsens in neighboring provinces and municipalities.

Several primary and secondary schools in Beijing's Xicheng and Dongcheng districts on Monday asked some students who have attended offline after-school classes or visited Beijing Children's Hospital to study from home, amid rising local cases and the risk of cluster infections.

The capital city reported eight local infections on Sunday, including two silent carriers. A total of 30 local COVID-19 cases have been reported in Beijing since March 7, involving five districts and six transmission chains from outside Beijing.

Some departments of the Beijing Children's Hospital and China-Japan Friendship Hospital, where the confirmed cases visited have been suspended and some floors have been closed for environmental screening.

According to a statement by the Beijing Municipal Health Commission, residents are advised not to leave the city except in cases of special needs, and avoid travel or business trips to medium and high-risk areas. 

North China's Hebei Province, which neighbors Beijing, reported 213 local infections on Sunday, including 162 silent carriers. Of the 213 infections, 175 are from Langfang, a city neighboring Beijing.

21 bus routes across Beijing and Hebei have been suspended or are being partially operated since Sunday. The epidemic has hit many places of Hebei and pressure on epidemic prevention and control in Beijing has increased.

Wang Zhengpu, governor of Hebei Province, said that the epidemic prevention and control work in the province should be strictly implemented to achieve "zero Covid on the societal level" in the shortest time and strictly prevent a large-scale rebound of the epidemic.

Besides Hebei, Tianjin, the municipality neighboring Beijing and a coastal metropolis in North China, also reported 52 new local infections on Sunday, including 12 silent carriers.

Global Times