Beijing airports cancel 1,255 flights over COVID-19 resurgence fears, 106 cases reported earlier

Beijing airports cancel 1,255 flights over COVID-19 resurgence fears, 106 cases reported earlier

BEIJING: Beijing cancelled at least 1,255 inbound and outbound flights on Wednesday, representing nearly 70 percent of all services, the state-run People’s Daily reported, as fears grow over a new coronavirus outbreak.
City officials have urged residents not to leave the city for “non-essential” travel, and several provinces have quarantined travellers from Beijing after more than 130 new cases were confirmed in the capital in recent days.
Beijing on Tuesday urged its residents to not leave the city and closed schools again as authorities scramble to contain a “severe” new coronavirus outbreak in the city of 21 million people.
The coronavirus resurgence — believed to have started in the capital’s sprawling Xinfadi wholesale food market — has prompted alarm as China had largely brought its outbreak under control through mass testing and draconian lockdowns.
The country had eased much of its anti-coronavirus measures in recent months as the government all but declared victory against the disease that emerged in the central city of Wuhan late last year.
Fearing that progress could unravel, authorities locked down several residential areas and announced new restrictions on Tuesday, with group sports banned, people ordered to wear masks in crowded enclosed spaces, and inter-provincial group tours suspended.
City to ramp up testing
Further, Beijing has decided to conduct mass testing of over 90,000 people as the COVID-19 cases in in the city jumped to 106 on Tuesday, a senior city official said, warning that the situation is “extremely severe”.
Twenty-seven new cases were reported in the last 22 hours, Beijing city spokesman Xu Hejian said, adding that strict measures have been implemented to stem the spread of the deadly virus.
—Agencies

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