Staff members receive supplies at Furongli residential community in Haidian District in Beijing, capital of China, Oct. 26, 2021. Furongli has been put under closed-off management after one confirmed case of COVID-19 in the community on Oct. 24.

 
Beijing’s latest COVID-19 flare-ups are all Delta variant-related, and the virus strain is highly similar to the recent coronavirus cases reported in North China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and Northwest China’s Gansu Province, according to the Beijing authorities on Wednesday.

Beijing has reported 21 local confirmed coronavirus cases during the latest outbreak, including one asymptomatic carrier, with three separate transmission chains in Fengtai, Changping and Haidian districts, Pang Xinghuo, deputy director of the Beijing center for disease control and prevention said at Wednesday’s press conference.

Presided over by Cai Qi, the Party chief of Beijing, another meeting was also held on Wednesday underlining the prompt and stringent measures to block the transmission chains of the epidemic and take control of the situation.

The meeting called for strict epidemic management in Beijing as well as preventative measures in many fields including medical institutions and campuses. It also called for strengthened measures for self-driving and senior residents’ tour groups in order to reduce epidemic risks.  

Beijing has improved its daily nucleic acid testing capacity from 746,000 to more than 1.56 million. Its testing institutes have increased from 249 by the end of last year to 282 currently, according to the Beijing authorities.

In order to provide timely testing, 40 institutions in the city are providing 24-hour services, with each district having at least two, said the Beijing authorities. Also, the test results are provided within four to 12 hours.

Beijing police have handled 24 cases related to the COVID-19 epidemic as of Wednesday, with 19 people placed on record for criminal investigation and 13 under administrative penalties, according to the authorities. 

Also, the city strengthened management of the primary and secondary school teacher qualification examination, which is scheduled to be held on Saturday. Participants are required to hand over their negative nucleic acid test reports and their health status within 48 hours before the exams.

The examination will involve 92,000 participants, covering 48 test sites in eight districts of the city.

Global Times