Strict measures to enter Beijing set for Hebei

Workers traveling into Beijing from neighboring cities in Hebei, the province which has seen a recent spike in COVID-19 cases, are experiencing longer commute times because of the stricter prevention and control measures put in place to halt the spread of infection.

Ma Tao, a resident in Langfang, a city that is about 50 kilometers from the capital's downtown area, spent five hours on his way to work on Friday－three hours more than usual.

He said he arrived at a checkpoint on an expressway into Beijing at 8 am and waited for three hours in the long queue to get into the city.

To reduce the risk of infection, Hebei announced on Thursday afternoon that residents in the province must not go to Beijing unless absolutely necessary.

People who need to travel to Beijing for anything other than work must provide a negative nucleic acid test result from within 72 hours before arrival in the capital to enter.

Those people who live in Hebei province and work in Beijing must bring three documents to enter the capital, namely their residential identification from their communities, their certificate of employment from their workplace in Beijing and a negative nucleic acid test result from within 14 days.

Workers on their first entry into the capital must also provide a negative nucleic acid test result from within 72 hours.

"The officials at the checkpoint examined each car and individuals in the car one by one, which took a long time," Ma said. "I went through the checkpoint at around 11 am and it took another two hours for me to get to my workplace."

Zhang Wei, a commuter who also lives in Langfang, said she supports the measures to prevent and control the virus spreading, as it provides safety for all.

"Hopefully, technologies such as big data can help to increase efficiency at the checkpoint. Otherwise, it's close to being a ban on going to Beijing for us," she said.

Many commuters trying to get into Beijing turned around and went back home on Friday because of the long queues and because they didn't meet the requirements for entry.

While some of the commuters into Beijing can work from home, for others that is not possible. Another commuter from Langfang, a driver for a company in Xicheng district in Beijing, said he needed to get all his documents ready as soon as possible.

"No matter how long it takes, I have to be at my job on time," he said.