Beijing tightens restrictions due to COVID-19 outbreak

The Chinese capital continues to tighten restrictive measures to combat the increasing spread of coronavirus.

Local authorities decided Thursday to shift schoolchildren in the metropolitan area of Chaoyang to distant education. Only middle and high school students who are preparing for the final exams are allowed to continue attending classes, according to Interfax.

Earlier, Beijing rolled out large-scale testing of the population for coronavirus. One third of the residents of the Chinese capital are expected to be tested for the virus by Friday. Lockdowns have been imposed in parts of the city where the COVID-19 cases were found.

On Thursday, 50 new cases of coronavirus infection were detected in Beijing, with almost one third of these being revealed among students.

The National Health Commission of China reported that 11,200 new COVID-19 cases were recorded per day in China, while most of the infected feel no symptoms of the diesase.

China remains one of the few countries applying a "zero tolerance" policy against COVID-19, meant to limit the spread of the virus through lockdowns and mandatory quarantine for those who were in contact with infected citizens. This policy was part of the preparations for the Winter Olympic Games, which took place in Beijing between February 4 and 20, 2022, but the authorities decided to continue it further.

Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in China, about 896,000 people have been infected with it and more than 4,800 died.