Residents walk in a street in Beijing, wearing face masks, on March 10, 2022. Photo: VCG

Beijing reported a cluster outbreak at a primary school infecting students and their family members, with 15 people infected in total. The cases are the Omicron strain and are highly similar to the virus sequences sampled abroad in January 2022.

Seven students and eight family members have contracted Omicron. Other teaching staff and the school environment tested negative for the virus, Pang Xinghuo, deputy director of the Beijing municipal disease prevention and control center, said at a press conference on Wednesday. 

The virus gene sequence showed that the cases are not the same as those found in previous domestic outbreaks or imported cases. Instead it is highly similar to the virus sequences sampled abroad in January 2022, which was uploaded on the international coronavirus database.

To prevent further spread in Beijing, Xu Hejian, spokesperson for the Beijing Municipal government, said the local authorities would stress the relevant policies for entering the capital. Those who enter the city must have a negative nucleic acid test result, and checkpoints at bus stations, airports and train stations will check this thoroughly. 

People from epidemic-hit areas are still not allowed to enter Beijing and those from port regions are encouraged not to enter the capital unless it is necessary. Meanwhile, Beijing will continue to strictly control offline national conferences, training and other gathering activities, Xu said. 

In the past 24 hours, Beijing has reported nine infections; five were in Dongcheng district and the other four were in Chaoyang. 

Because Xiaocun in Chaoyang district has had three confirmed cases in the past 14 days, the area has been labeled as a medium risk region for COVID-19.