Infections in Sichuan county surpass 1,000

Capital reports 54 cases

Meanwhile, China's capital continues its COVID-19 epidemic control and prevention measures to deal with the increasing number of cases driven by cluster infections.

Beijing reported 54 new locally transmitted COVID-19 cases between 3 pm on Thursday and 3 pm on Friday, bringing the total number of infections to 1,336 since April 22.

Liu Xiaofeng, deputy director of the Beijing Center for Disease Prevention and Control, said at a news conference on Friday that of the 54 new cases, 51 were related to the recent clusters.

Beijing recently reported several clusters involving a university, a wholesale market, a subway renovation project, a bus station and a branch of a logistics company, totaling more than 100 cases.

The latest cluster reported on Monday, involving a branch campus of Beijing Institute of Technology in Fangshan district, has led to 11 confirmed cases by Friday afternoon.

All of the 671 teachers, students and other staff of BIT at this campus have been transferred to centralized quarantine places, said Li Zhenjian, vice-principal of BIT.

"The institute has sent more teachers and staff into the centralized quarantine location to take care of the students," he said. "We will make all efforts to ensure the students' health and safety."

All restaurants in Beijing should continue to suspend dine-in service and school campuses continue to be closed to the outside.