Beijing to cancel August exhibitions, events due to COVID-19

BEIJING - The Chinese capital Beijing has decided to cancel large-scale exhibitions and events scheduled this month, after three locally-transmitted COVID-19 cases were newly confirmed in the first 12 hours of Wednesday.

The municipal government has urged relevant departments to carry out timely epidemiological investigations on specific close-contact groups with large mobility, including taxi and ride-hailing drivers, and delivery men.

Beijing plans to step up the screening of people entering the city from areas with reported COVID-19 cases. It also urges relevant departments to take better care of medical workers at the frontline of disease prevention and control.

Airports and traffic nodes in the city are being asked to strengthen their prevention and control measures to halt the spread of the coronavirus. Public places such as parks, scenic spots, performance venues, cinemas and libraries should strictly limit the number of visitors and implement staggered shifts and reservation systems.

Meanwhile, the city is studying a possible work plan for managing the return of students to school in the autumn, according to the municipal government.

The city's three new cases are close contacts of a confirmed case reported last week. Two of them are the patient's relatives, while one was on the same flight with the patient, said Pang Xinghuo, deputy director of the Beijing center for disease control and prevention.

Beijing has classified two residential compounds as COVID-19 medium-risk areas, while the rest of the city remains low-risk.

A total of 50 close contacts of the new cases have been traced, and more contacts with links to possible risky spots are being verified.