A medic takes a swab sample from a man for nucleic acid test at Xidan area in Beijing, capital of China, May 14, 2022. Photo:Xinhua

Suspending shopping malls, indoor entertainment facilities and scenic spots, and imposing work-from-home orders…Beijing further escalated its COVID-19 restrictions across five districts as the domestically-transmitted COVID-19 situation remains uncertain. 

Starting from this weekend, residents in Haidian district will also work from home, adding to residents in four other districts - Chaoyang, Fengtai, Shunyi, Fangshan - until May 28, Xu Hejian, the spokesperson of the city government announced at Saturday's press conference. 

Clustered outbreaks and sporadic cases in communities have led to increased uncertainty over the COVID-19 epidemic in Beijing, Xu said, urging the city to reaffirm its faith in defeating the virus and achieving dynamic zero as soon as possible.

Meanwhile, people from other districts should also manage their attendance at physical office locations and travel within the city. Those must work at office should present a negative nucleic acid testing and follow point-to-point closed-loop management protocols, Xu said. 

Except restaurants offering delivery service, pharmacies, all indoor entertainment venues, gyms, training institutes and shopping malls will be closed from Sunday. All graded scenic points in the capital city will be suspended, and at the same time, all parks should cap visits to 30 percent of capacity. 

The capital reported 63 new cases from 3 pm Friday to 3 pm Saturday, of which seven were detected in communities.

Photo shows a view of Chaoyang District in Beijing, capital of China, May 14, 2022. Photo:Xinhua

Explaining the reason why the city continues to report sporadic cases after rounds of mass testing, Xu said the rampant Omicron has been effectively curbed and the city managed to avoid large-scale outbreaks but that the COVID-19 situation has been complicated by the highly-contagious Omicron with most patients only presenting mild symptoms. 

Officials also noted that some individuals and enterprises had failed to fulfill their responsibilities, which had triggered clustered outbreaks which intensify COVID-19 transmission risks, Xu said. 

Among the 63 newly reported cases on Saturday, 58 were linked to recent clustered outbreaks. 

A resident waits for his take-out outside a restaurant in Beijing, capital of China, May 14, 2022. Photo:Xinhua

During Saturday's press conference, Beijing Public Security Bureau reported that four people from the third branch company of China Railway Eleventh Bureau are subject to criminal investigation by public security organs on suspicion of impeding the prevention and control of infectious diseases. 

The suspects were accused of intentionally concealing the travel histories of some workers and illegally altering their health code status, and traveling between different districts. Among those 25 people involved, 20 were confirmed as positive cases, forcing at least 21 venues to be placed under restrictions, and more than 900 people to be quarantined. 

Global Times