Residents queue up to take nucleic acid tests in Beijing on August 3, 2022. Photo: IC

Beijing reported two new infections of COVID-19 on Sunday including one who tested positive after returning from a business trip to North China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. Beijing authorities raised the alert of preventing imported cases by placing strict restrictions on the entry to the city for people with a travel history to places where local infections have been reported, as imported cases are still considered the biggest risk to the city's current epidemic prevention. 

The two infected patients are identified to be a couple living in Shijingshan district, Beijing. The husband drove to Inner Mongolia for a business trip and back to Shijingshan between July 25 and August 2. He tested negative for COVID-19 on August 3 and developed symptoms of headache and sore throat the next day. The other infected individual, the wife, showed symptoms including fever on Saturday. 

Being placed under home quarantine since Friday, the couple tested positive on Sunday and were confirmed as mild cases. 

Since August 1, Beijing has reported accumulated four new infections in Haidian, Huairou and Shijingshan districts. All these infections were imported or related to infections in other places. 

Imported cases are the biggest risk to Beijing's epidemic prevention and control work, Liu Xiaofeng, deputy director of Beijing Center for Disease Prevention and Control, stressed during a press briefing on Sunday, noting that sporadic outbreaks are being reported across the nation as the personnel flow and gathering are increasing as people travel during the summer vacation. 

Despite sporadic cases in Beijing being contained in a timely manner over the past month, alerts of epidemic prevention of imported cases have to be raised to consolidate the hard-won achievements of the city's epidemic prevention and control, Xu Hejian, spokesperson of Beijing Municipal People's Government, announced the strict restriction to the entry of the city by people with a travel history to cities, regions or banners where there is one local infection or more reported within seven days. 

In particular, the local disease prevention and control authority reminded that personnel who have traveled to South China's Hainan Province, cities of Baotou, Ordos, Ulanqab, Wuhai and Xilin Gol League in Inner Mongolia, and other places at risk since July 23, have to report to the local communities, their workplaces and hotels and cooperate with a series of epidemic prevention measures including quarantine and nucleic acid testing. 

Global Times