Capital's virus control work at critical juncture

Beijing's epidemic control and prevention work is at a critical period as the capital continues to report cluster infections and imported cases from areas outside of the city, the municipality's health authority said.

Beijing recorded 24 locally transmitted confirmed COVID-19 cases by 3 pm on Friday, among whom three were detected at the community level, according to official data reported on Friday evening.

On the previous day, 32 locally transmitted COVID-19 cases and six asymptomatic carriers were reported in Beijing, among whom six were detected at the community level.

"Beijing continued to report cases at the community level recently, which indicates that hidden transmission risks still exist in the city," Beijing Daily quoted the Beijing Center for Disease Prevention and Control as saying.

Meanwhile, the number of highand medium-risk areas keeps growing in the capital. Districts such as Tongzhou, Daxing and Pinggu all have high-risk areas at present.

The Beijing CDC said on Thursday night that Beijing has reported three infection clusters involving a total of 38 cases in three districts — Chaoyang, Changping and Haidian — in recent days.

The government will strengthen control and management of people and places with infection risks, as well as provide supplies and services for those quarantined at home or in centralized locations.

Companies and institutions in Beijing are advised not to hold annual meetings, training, galas or similar activities. If needed, the meetings should be held online, the authority said. The urban-rural fringe areas and villages have been ordered to strengthen the screening of people coming from outside.

Airports, railway stations and other transport junctions will strictly carry out related measures to reduce infection risks.

As sporadic cases continue to be reported in many places in China in recent days, local governments are carrying out multiple measures to control the virus spreading.

Wang Hao, governor of Zhejiang province, said the epidemic control and prevention work should be both effective and considerate, putting people and lives first.

Many local governments showed similar attitudes, saying that the prolonged and large-scale control management and limits should not be continued and related work should be more targeted.