Beijing tightens measures to prevent epidemic spillover from neighboring areas

Beijing is facing a severe and complicated COVID-19 epidemic control and prevention situation as outbreaks are still hitting many areas in the country with a rapidly growing number of new local cases, a senior official of the capital said on Wednesday.

Xu Hejian, a spokesman for the Beijing municipal government, said at a news conference the city authority should tighten measures on people returning to Beijing from other areas, especially neighboring ones.

"The authority should strengthen the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei coordinated prevention and control measures to ensure the safety of the capital," he said. "The checkpoints for entering Beijing via expressway should strictly follow prevention measures to avoid risks."

Beijing has suspended trans-provincial passenger bus service to places with new local cases, according to the city's traffic commission on Wednesday.

Beijing reported seven new locally transmitted cases of COVID-19 between 4 pm Tuesday and 4 pm Wednesday, including a primary school student. The cases are in the districts of Dongcheng and Chaoyang.

The cumulative number of infections in Beijing during this round of the outbreak has reached 79 as of 4 pm on Wednesday.

In neighboring Hebei province, the pressure on epidemic prevention and control has been increasing.

On Tuesday, Hebei reported 9 new locally transmitted COVID-19 cases and 183 asymptomatic carriers in Langfang, Cangzhou and Tangshan, the provincial health commission said on Wednesday.

As of Wednesday, the province had 331 locally transmitted confirmed cases and 2,454 asymptomatic cases still under medical observation.

Some districts in Langfang, a neighboring city of Beijing, have prohibited all vehicles and personnel from entering or leaving except those necessary for the national economy and people's livelihoods, epidemic prevention and control and emergency rescue.