Beijing students returning to class as epidemic wanes

Special: Battle Against Novel Coronavirus

Students from primary to high school in Beijing will resume their campus lives starting on Monday as the latest wave of the COVID-19 epidemic wanes in the city.

Beijing reported two locally transmitted cases-both from quarantine locations-as of 3 pm on Sunday, said Liu Xiaofeng, deputy director of the Beijing Center for Disease Prevention and Control, at a news conference held on Sunday.

The city reported one COVID-19 infection on Saturday at the community level.

Beijing reported 396 infections from June 9 to 3 pm on Sunday from the cluster linked to the bar named Heaven Supermarket in the Sanlitun area in Chaoyang district, according to Liu.

Beijing's education commission announced on Saturday that students in primary and high school can go back to their campuses on Monday.

According to the announcement, students of all primary school grades and those in grades one and two in middle and high school can return to class. Kindergartners can go back to school on July 4.

All teachers, students and their parents are required to take nucleic acid tests within 48 hours before going back to school on Monday. Students will take the tests twice a week during school time afterward.

Earlier, senior-year students in middle and high school had resumed on-campus study and have since taken their graduation exams.

However, students in controlled residential communities should continue to study online at home.

In early May, kindergartners and primary, middle and high school students in Beijing were asked not to go back to campus after the May Day holiday in order to prevent infection risks as the city was reporting dozens of new locally transmitted cases daily.

Beijing's sports bureau also announced that the city will resume sports training programs for teenagers.

Starting on Monday, outdoor training and some indoor non-contact sports training for teenagers will be allowed in the districts that have reported no new positive COVID-19 cases over the past seven days.

While gyms are allowed to open at 75 percent capacity, underground ones are still closed to students.

The city had suspended outdoor sports training activities for teenagers since June 12.

Meanwhile, starting Wednesday, Shanghai will gradually resume indoor dining in "low-risk" areas that have reported no COVID-19 infections in the last seven days, the authorities announced Sunday.

Diners must show negative nucleic acid test results from within 72 hours to enter restaurants, and their temperatures must be no higher than 37.3 degrees.

Shanghai registered two locally transmitted COVID-19 asymptomatic infections out of quarantine and lockdown populations on Sunday.

Zhao Dandan, deputy director of the Shanghai Health Commission, said scattered local infections emerged again after the city had reported zero local COVID-19 infections for five consecutive days.