Beijing suspends classes as Covid-19 resurges
BEIJING: China on Friday suspended the class resumption for primary schools’ lower graders in Beijing after three new confirmed coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) cases were reported in the capital city over the past two days.
The Beijing Municipal Education Commission also asked off-campus training institutions to suspend resuming offline courses and group activities.
The decision was made in line with the changing situation of the city’s epidemic prevention and control, said the commission.
The commission said on Tuesday that around 520,000 students in the first, second and third grades in Beijing’s primary schools were scheduled to return to campus on June 15. Two new cases of Covid-19 were confirmed in Beijing on Friday, one day after one case was reported.
Higher grade students who have returned to school will continue classes, and teaching arrangements will be adjusted according to the epidemic prevention and control situation in Beijing.
Examination arrangements will be carried out as planned on the basis of strict epidemic prevention and control work, the education commission said Friday.
In related news, the operations of Xinfadi, the largest wholesale market with fruit, vegetable and meat supplies in Beijing, was suspended on Saturday for disinfection after personnel working there and the surroundings have tested positive for the novel coronavirus.
New Covid-19 cases reported on Thursday and Friday were found to have been to the market located in Fengtai District, leading to the testings.
All personnel in the market will receive nucleic acid testings, according to a statement jointly issued early Saturday by the market regulation bureau and the health commission of the district.
To ensure the market supply, special sections have been set up for sales of vegetables and fruits with close-off management, said the statement.
Covering a total area of 112 hectares, the Xinfadi market has some 1,500 management personnel and more than 4,000 tenants.
Beijing reported three confirmed Covid-19 cases on Thursday
and Friday, with one of them in Xicheng District and the others in Fengtai District.
Chinese health authority said Saturday that it received reports of 11 new confirmed Covid-19 cases on the Chinese mainland Friday, of which six were domestically transmitted and five were imported.
All of the domestically transmitted cases were reported in Beijing, the National Health Commission said in its daily report. No deaths related to the disease or new suspected cases were reported Friday, according to the commission. On Friday, two people were discharged from hospitals after recovery.
As of Friday, the overall confirmed cases on the mainland had reached 83,075, including 74 patients who were still being treated, with no one in severe condition.
Altogether 78,367 people had been discharged after recovery and 4,634 people had died of the disease, the commission said.
By Friday, the Chinese mainland had reported a total of 1,808 imported cases. Of the cases, 1,742 had been discharged from hospitals after recovery, and 66 remained hospitalized, with no one in severe condition. No deaths from the imported cases had been reported. There was currently one suspected case, the commission said.
According to the commission, 3,197 close contacts were still under medical observation after 635 people were discharged from medical observation Friday.
Also on Friday, seven new asymptomatic cases, including five from overseas, were reported on the mainland. A total of 13 asymptomatic cases were discharged from medical observation.
The commission said 98 asymptomatic cases, including 48 imported cases, were still under medical observation.
By Friday, 1,108 confirmed cases including four deaths had been reported in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), 45 confirmed cases in the Macau SAR (MSAR), and 443 in Taiwan including seven deaths.
A total of 1,060 patients in the HKSAR, 45 in the MSAR, and 431 in Taiwan had been discharged from hospitals after recovery.