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Zhuang Pinghui

Beijing reported a locally transmitted Covid-19 case on Thursday, halting a 55-day streak without such an infection.
The patient, a 52-year-old man from Xicheng district, visited a doctor on Wednesday afternoon reporting intermittent fever. He had symptoms of chills and fatigue but no cough, sore throat or chest pain, Miao Jianhong, deputy district chief, said.
A nucleic acid test came back positive and the man was admitted to Ditan Hospital, an infectious disease facility designated for treating Covid-19 patients.
The patient had worn a mask while travelling by bicycle to see the doctor. Two family members were in isolation and under medical observation, Miao said.


It is mystery how the man became infected. Beijing has not reported any locally transmitted cases since April 15.
The man said he had not left Beijing in the past two weeks, nor had he been in contact with anyone who had recently returned to the city.
Miao said an epidemiological investigation was under way to trace the source of infection and that the residential compound in which the man lived had been closed.
Pang Xinghuo, deputy head of the Beijing Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said the new case had “sounded the alarm for us that the risk of another outbreak exists all the time”.
“It reminds us to have a deep understanding of significance, complexity and uncertainty of the epidemic prevention and control in the capital. We must always tighten the string of epidemic prevention and control,” she said.
The centre would collect samples from the environments in which the man had spent time over the past 14 days, Pang said.
It would also collect samples from the respiratory tracts and blood of “relevant persons” – who had been in contact with the patient – to find a possible source of infection.
All of the people who lived in the same residential area as the man would be given a nucleic acid test, and checked to determine if they had been overseas or in other parts of the country China where there are still Covid-19 outbreaks, Pang said.


Ben Cowling, professor of epidemiology at the University of Hong Kong School of Public Health, said he was not surprised “in the slightest” by the new case in Beijing.
“It is very difficult to keep Covid out of a community and when one case is detected there are probably a small number of other infections, mostly mild or asymptomatic, which will be identified in the coming days,” he said.
The infection was announced after Beijing on Saturday downgraded its Covid-19 emergency response to level three, the second lowest. With the downgrade, social activities resumed, schools reopened and residents were advised they need only keep their face masks on in crowded or enclosed areas.
Last month, Beijing hosted the annual session of the National People’s Congress and China People’s Political Consultative Conference with most reporters barred from the meeting venues to keep as little contact as possible in the wake of a national epidemic.
Coronavirus science latest: vaccines, treatments, reinfection and research
The new case was one of only a handful reported by China this month, which said earlier it had ended local transmission long ago, although it remained on high alert for a possible second wave of imported cases from overseas.
Last week, Dr Gao Fu, head of China’s CDC, and professor Feng Zijian, CDC deputy director general, warned in The Lancet that China still faced the risk of a potential second wave as most people in the country lacked immunity.
While China’s containment efforts had brought an end to community transmission of Covid-19, the country was still dependent on public health measures to prevent a second wave, they said.
Case identification and management, together with identification and quarantine of close contacts, was the strategy that worked, they said.
Additional reporting by Linda Lew



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Patient says he has not left the city for the past two weeks or been in contact with anyone who has recently returned
Officials say two of his family members have been placed in isolation, while his residential compound has been closed pending an investigation



Patient says he has not left the city for the past two weeks or been in contact with anyone who has recently returned.
