BEIJING CANCELS Hundreds of flights, trains As COVID-19 CASES SPIKE

BEIJING: Beijing moved on a war footing on Wednesday, cancelling hundreds of domestic flights and trains while ramping up the mass testing of 90,000 people to stem the spread of the Coronavirus, as the city reported 31 new COVID-19 cases, pushing the tally to 137.

Two airports in Beijing have cancelled 1,255 domestic flights, nearly 70 per cent of the scheduled trips, the official media reported. Beijing currently does not operate international flights.

The national railway operator will allow passengers, who had booked train tickets in and out of Beijing as of Tuesday, to refund tickets without any extra charges.

Starting Wednesday, Beijing halts return to campus, and resumes online courses for middle and primary school students, as well as suspends college students' return to campus, the reports said.

Beijing has asked libraries, museums, parks to limit visitors up to 30 per cent of full flow and halted cross-province group tours, the reports said. The flight and train cancellations came after Beijing became a "no-go-zone" on Tuesday as many provincial cities raised alerts on travel to the Chinese capital.

Beijing on Tuesday upgraded its emergency response to COVID-19 from level III to II starting.

The city is also testing 90,000 people who had visited Xinfadi wholesale market in the last six days and a senior city official warned that the situation is "extremely severe". After Beijing's COVID19 infections increased, it seems that the capital has now become a "no-go zone" for other parts of China, as many places have raised alert on travels to Beijing and strengthened health check on arrivals from Beijing, state-run Global Times reported.