Beijing kindergartens suspended all service starting Thursday

All kindergartens in Beijing will suspend on-campus services starting Thursday and all middle school students will end on-campus study starting Saturday, a senior official of the capital's Education Commission said on Wednesday.

These are the latest measures to better control and prevent the novel coronavirus from spreading and protect children, said Li Yi, spokesman for the Beijing Municipal Education Commission, at a news conference, adding that primary schools in Beijing already started winter vacation on Saturday.

All final tests for this semester at junior and senior high schools will be held online.

Meanwhile, all educational institutions should suspend operations starting Saturday.

"The measures might bring some difficulties to families where both parents work," he said. "Both the families and society should cooperate together to overcome the difficulties. The health of our children always comes first."

Beijing reported seven cases on Tuesday, which involve three family clusters. The Ronghui residential community where those patients live was designated as a high-risk area on Wednesday.