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Beijing bolts doors to coronavirus as Communist Party meeting and Olympics loom
- Latest outbreak prompts tight measures in three districts and those arriving in the capital from at-risk counties are refused entry
- Linked to a Shanghai couple’s road trip, the outbreak has reached 11 provinces and caused postponement of Beijing marathon
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It all began with just one case of Covid-19, but China’s capital is not taking any chances as it screens arrivals from around the country and turns away those deemed to pose a risk.
Set to host a meeting of the Communist Party’s elite next month and the Winter Olympics in February, the stakes for Beijing are high, should any cases slip through the net.
A man surnamed Xu travelled to Beijing by train on October 15 from his hometown Wuwei, in the northwest, occupying a bunk near a man surnamed Ai who later tested positive for the coronavirus. Ai had previously shared a car with an infected Shanghai couple during their road trip around the north.
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Xu tested positive for the Delta variant three days after his trip, and by last Saturday his wife and son had been confirmed positive, too.
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China steps up zero-tolerance approach to Covid-19 as Delta fears grow ahead of Beijing Olympics
He and his wife had 114 close contacts, who were themselves in contact with a total of 197 others in southern Beijing’s Fengtai district, where they live – one of three districts in which cases were concentrated, the district government said. The son had 26 close contacts, who were in contact with a further 84.
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