Changping Photo: VCG

 Beijing's Changping district, which reported 10 domestically transmitted COVID-19 cases in the past two days, has further tightened its epidemic prevention policy, with all chess and card rooms in the district closed and several pharmacies shutting down where epidemic prevention measures were not in place.

According to media reports, after two consecutive days of confirmed cases being reported in Changping, law enforcement forces have increased inspections of business establishments in the district, including pharmacies, clinics, hotels, restaurants and chess and card rooms. As of Sunday morning, of the 128 chess and card rooms in the district inspected by law enforcement officials, 119 had suspended their operations on their own and the remaining nine were ordered to temporarily shut down.

A total of 432 pharmacies in the district were also inspected, with emphasis on verifying the registration of purchasers of fever-reducing drugs. A number of 28 pharmacies with inadequate implementation of measures related to epidemic prevention have been shut down.

Nearly 4,000 people monitored in the district who have recently purchased antipyretic and cough medicines have been pushed to community health service centers in real time through the big data platform, and no purchasers with body temperatures above 37.3 C have been found.

Previous information released by the district showed that the spread of the epidemic in Changping was related to the failure of several pharmacies to register and report people who bought antipyretic drugs. On Saturday, two pharmacies with lax epidemic prevention measures were shut down. A clinic that illegally prescribed medication to fever patients was also shut down.

On Saturday, four new cases were reported in Beijing, all living in the same residential area in Changping. The neighborhood has been adjusted to a high-risk area for COVID-19, one of only two remaining high-risk areas in the country.

Changping on Saturday urged all residents to stay in the district if they don’t have urgent reasons to leave. All districts in Beijing have started screening residents visiting or returning to Beijing from provincial-level regions with high- or middle-risk areas. 

On Saturday, a total of 43 new cases were reported in 31 provincial-level regions in the Chinese mainland, 26 of which were locally transmitted. Currently, there are 564 confirmed COVID-19 cases in China.

Global Times