New Shunyi Cases Lead to Mandatory Villa Testing

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Two new infections were reported this morning in Shunyi district, setting off a wave of mandatory testing in multiple housing communities in the district.

Residents of Capital Paradise (名都园), Yosemite (优山美地), Gahood Villas (嘉浩别墅) and ID City (艾迪城) report that testing is already underway at their compounds.

The two new cases both show symptoms. This has once again set the city’s clock of consecutive days without a local transmission back to zero.

The first case is a 31-year-old female from Hebei that lives in Zhangxizhuang Village (张喜庄村) in Gaoliying who works at the Shunyi logistics center for a convenience store chain that retails frozen foods. She was discovered during testing ordered by the city of all people working in close proximity to frozen foods. She was tested on Dec 24 and returned positive on Dec 25. Her case is classified as light.

The second case is a 29-year-old woman from Liaoning who lives in the Yibin housing estate (义宾小区) near downtown Shunyi. She developed a fever and a cough on Dec 24 and went to the fever clinic for testing, which resulted in confirming her infection.

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Both people have been transferred to Ditan Hospital for treatment. Disinfecting of the areas they visited and contact tracing are underway.

The cases, the second and third cases this week, follow that of the case confirmed on Dec 24 of a man who lives in the Lianzhu Garden (莲竹花园) housing complex across the street from Line 15 China International Exhibition Center (中国国际展览中心顺义新馆) station.

During contact tracing, authorities noted that he had visited 24 places and multiple subway stations in Beijing in the week prior to his diagnosis. The places he visited in Shunyi included Carrefour, Sam’s Club, and Shine Hills mall.

Regardless, this is not a time to panic or get hysterical. Beijing remains one of the safest places to be during COVID-19 and still has very few cases. We recommend you cooperate fully with any testing requirements set by your place of residence or work, and of course behave as you normally should during a pandemic — wear masks in public, wash hands frequently, and avoid large-scale events and crowded indoor areas.

We also suggest you comply with the city government’s request to curtail any unnecessary travel and plan to spend the Chinese New Year in Beijing.

At this point, the impact of the new infections on international schools, many of which are located in Shunyi, is unclear as most are on holiday until after the national western calendar New Year holiday on Jan 1.

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Photos: Jonas Day

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