Passengers at the Beijing Railway Station on Friday. Officials said on Friday that train bookings for the Spring Festival travel peak declined by 60 percent, with the total number of passengers only reaching 296 million. Photo: cnsphoto

The Beijing Center for Disease Control and Prevention on Sunday appealed to the public to spend their upcoming Spring Festival holidays in the capital due to COVID-19 outbreak risks, after China rolled out a series of measures to encourage the public to stay in their working cities, including mandatory nucleic acid tests from within seven days of travel, 14-day health monitoring at home and an extra bonus for those who choose to stay. 

Pang Xinghuo, deputy director of the municipal center for disease prevention and control, warned citizens to enhance their awareness of protection at a press briefing on Sunday, advising people not to make unnecessary trips outside Beijing or overseas.

Pang suggested that local people spend their spring festival holiday in Beijing to help minimize passenger flows and avoid unnecessary gatherings.

The 2021 Spring Festival travel season will begin on January 28 and end on March 8, a period that lasts around 40 days.  Spring Festival travel season usually sees large passenger flows as people return home to reunite with family members. 

Officials from the Party and government agencies were asked to take the lead in celebrating Spring Festival in Beijing and not leave the city.

People who have been to medium or high risk areas in the past 14 days or visited places where confirmed cases were announced during the same period should report to their working units and communities promptly, Pang suggested.

The official asked the public to cooperate and support local measures against the coronavirus, including undergoing quarantine and receiving nucleic acid tests. 

Global Times