Beijing cleared of medium-risk areas for COVID-19

Beijing has been cleared of medium-risk areas for COVID-19, with the last such area being downgraded to the low-risk category, a local health commission official said on Monday.

The city has reported no newly confirmed cases of COVID-19 for 14 consecutive days, and after appraisal, Huaxiang Township in Fengtai District was downgraded to a low-risk area, said Gao Xiaojun, spokesperson for the Beijing Health Commission.

All subdistricts and townships in the city are now in the low-risk category, Gao told a press meet.

As of Monday, Beijing had lowered its COVID-19 emergency response from level II to III.

Meanwhile, China’s latest coronavirus resurgence has spread to a second city in the northwest Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

One of the 17 new cases reported on Monday was in the ancient Silk Road city of Kashgar, the regional government said on its official microblog. The remainder were in Urumqi, the regional capital, where all other cases have been reported since the outbreak that has infected at least 47 people emerged last week.

Five other new cases reported on Chinese mainland on Monday by the National Health Commission were imported. Hong Kong reported 73 new coronavirus infections on Monday, 66 of which were locally transmitted, as the Chinese city grapples with a new outbreak.

Of the locally transmitted cases, 27 were from unknown sources while the rest 39 were linked to previously known clusters. Among the new patients was a doctor who visited an elderly care home.

Hong Kong has reported a total of 1,958 cases, with 12 deaths.