In Beijing, travelers get new COVID rules

Museums and theaters in Beijing starting on Thursday will not receive visitors who have traveled outside the capital within seven days — a strengthened measure to prevent COVID-19 transmission as the city faces ongoing outbreaks.

A notice from the Beijing Museum of Natural History, for example, said that if a visitor's travel history record shows travel to places outside Beijing in the past seven days, the visitor will not be allowed to enter the museum.

Similar notices were released on Thursday by several other museums and theaters, including the Beijing Stone Carving Art Museum and China Red Sandalwood Museum.

Beijing reported 30 COVID-19 infections, either confirmed or asymptomatic, from Wednesday to 3 pm on Thursday, including six detected at the community level, according to the Beijing Center for Disease Prevention and Control.

The city reported 97 local infections in the outbreak that first emerged on Sept 29. The center said in a statement that the capital is facing increasing pressure to prevent imported cases in light of a rebound in infections, with virus sources from multiple places outside the capital, Beijing Evening News reported.

To blunt the risk of infections, the city is requiring new arrivals to undergo two nucleic acid tests in three days. Such individuals should not participate in gatherings or go to crowded places within seven days, the center said.