Vendors leave the Xinfadi Market in Fengtai district, Beijing on Sunday after getting their belongings back. The market was the epicenter of recent COVID-19 outbreak in the capital, during which 335 confirmed cases had been reported as of Sunday. These vendors have undergone 28 days of quarantine and received negative results in nucleic acid tests. Photo: cnsphoto

Beijing is clear of COVID-19 medium-risk regions on Monday, after no new cases for 14 days. The anti-epidemic measures in Beijing changed to promote people's return to normal life on Monday, the first day since downgrading its public health emergency response to Level III.

Beijing is restoring normal activities, including hotels, restaurants and supermarkets, but will optimize epidemic prevention measures and contingency plans. Temperature screening is not required when entering communities in Beijing, but passes and registrations are still necessary, according to the press briefing on Beijing's epidemic prevention and control on Monday.

Indoor exhibition halls of the Forbidden City will open starting Tuesday, with reservations and tourist limits in force, its official website said.

Beijing resumed the cross-provincial group travels, flights and hotel business of travel agencies. However, travel agencies and online tourism enterprises shall not promote the group tourism business in areas with a serious flood situation. International tourism business remains suspended, Zhou Weimin, an official at the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism, announced at the press conference.

Although no medium-risk areas are left in Beijing, the city continues to tighten regulations on imported cold-chain food to avoid the imported risk of coronavirus. Customs and airports will strengthen epidemic prevention work, Xu Hejian, a spokesperson for the Beijing municipal government, said at the briefing.

Closed-loop transfer management and a 14-day centralized observation shall continue for those entering Beijing from abroad. Health monitoring shall be carried out for seven days when they return to communities and villages, after the expiration of the observation period with the qualified nucleic acid test.

Close contacts and cured COVID-19 patients in Beijing will continue to undergo strict observation for 14 days. Their health conditions will be monitored and followed up for another two weeks after returning to their communities.