Hundreds at Beijing university campus sent into quarantine amid Covid-19 outbreak
- All 670 students and staff living at the Fangshan campus have been transferred to an isolation facility
- District spokesman says it is now a high-risk area but did not reveal how many people had tested positive
The Fangshan campus of the Beijing Institute of Technology is now a high-risk area, according to district spokesman Zhang Mingzhi.
“After receiving the report that someone tested positive on campus, the Fangshan district immediately organised nucleic acid tests and rapid antigen tests for everyone,” he said, adding that contact tracing was also under way.
Zhang said there were 670 students and staff living on the campus, but did not reveal how many people had tested positive.
“They have all been transferred to a central isolation [facility],” he said.
The Fangshan campus, in the southwest of the city, is used by the institute’s international and continuing education colleges.
China’s zero-Covid approach no match for Omicron: WHO
Beijing is scrambling to contain an Omicron outbreak that has dragged on for almost a month – despite authorities sealing off a number of residential areas, ordering frequent mass testing, closing entertainment venues and imposing other curbs.
China’s tough zero-Covid policy means it is not unusual for universities to isolate staff and students when cases are found – even if it is just one case.
Earlier this month, one person tested positive during mass screening at Shandong University, in the east of the country. Within an hour, 400 contacts had been sent into quarantine at a makeshift hospital. Within two days, more than 10,000 students from the campus had been sent to other cities for isolation.
In mid-March, more than 6,000 students from the Jilin Agriculture Technology Institute in the northeast were transferred to other cities for quarantine after a cluster emerged. More than 1,100 cases were found, and the students were allowed to return to the campus about a month later.
Beijing has reported 1,218 local infections in the city’s latest outbreak, which began in late April. Most cases have been in the Chaoyang and Fangshan districts. Sixty-nine new infections were reported on Wednesday, up from 52 a day earlier.
The Chinese capital has just finished three days of almost citywide testing, with another three rounds planned in four key districts in the next three days. Residents must show a negative test result from the previous 48 hours to enter public places.
In addition, Beijing Public Transport said bus passengers would have to show their “health code” mobile app on some routes from Tuesday. The colour-coded app indicates a person’s Covid-19 risk level based on their test results and whether they have been to any areas with positive cases. It is used across mainland China
