A staff member disinfects the quarantine room of Shenyang Railway Station in Shenyang, northeast China's Liaoning Province, Feb. 2, 2020. Various measures have been taken for epidemic prevention efforts across China. (Xinhua/Yang Qing) 

 

A Beijing district official confirmed on Tuesday that one of its government employees has been infected with the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), causing 69 more in quarantine, but denied rumors that the infection case has led to a shutdown of the district government.   

The infected government employee was diagnosed with COVID-19 in mild conditions after he resumed work from the Spring Festival holiday when he traveled back to his hometown in North China's Hebei Province to visit family members, Sun Shuo, head of the Xicheng district government, said at a press conference on COVID-19 epidemic control in Beijing on Tuesday. 

The employee showed no obvious symptom and his temperature remained normal when he got back to work on the frontline of preventive and control against the epidemic in the district until he was notified that one of his relatives in his hometown was confirmed with COVID-19 infection on February 11, Sun said.  

The employee reported the situation to his superiors, stayed in quarantine at home and was later diagnosed to have been infected with COVID-19.  

Following his diagnosis, a total of 69 employees in the government who might have come into contact with the patient have been quarantined. 

Sun's statement came after rumors began circulating on the internet claiming the confirmed case caused the Xicheng district government to shut down.

After the quarantine, everything is now operating normally with the district government, Sun said.

Xicheng district reported a total of 47 confirmed cases as of Monday, bringing the figure across the capital Beijing to a total of 387 cases, according to the website of Beijing municipal government.

Xicheng district lies close to the center of Beijing with a permanent resident population of about 1.14 million by the end of 2019, according to the district government's website.

Global Times