Beijing redoubles anti-pandemic steps ahead of postgraduate exam

Beijing government has taken strict prevention and control measures for the national postgraduate entrance exams starting Saturday.

In addition to the negative nucleic acid tests taken within past seven days, the authority also asked the students to wear masks when entering and leaving the test rooms and suggest wearing the masks during the whole test. 

Wen Zhihao, 21, a student who will take the exam in Beijing, said he trusts the city's prevention and control measures and the new cases reported recently in the city had not affected his mood at all. 

"However, I don't think I can wear the mask during the whole test. I will take it off during the tests," he said. 

Beijing reported two asymptomatic COVID-19 cases from Wednesday to 4 pm Thursday and one of it was a 34-year-old male who was going to take the exam.

Chen Bei, deputy secretary general of the Beijing municipal government, said at a news conference on Friday that the government suggests citizens to spend the coming New Year's Holiday and Chinese Lunar New Year (Which falls in February 2021) within the city and to reduce the infection risks. 

"Citizens should not leave the city when it's not necessary," she said. "The outbound travel should continue to be suspended and large-scale event should not be held."

It's normal that China would see COVID-19 outbreaks in some places since the global pandemic is still growing, while the rising cases is a reminder that we should stick to our prevention and control measures to avoid risks, said Wu Zunyou, chief epidemiologist at the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

He told China Central Television on Thursday that China reported many asymptomatic cases recently, which means that we have discovered the potential risks before they spread to a wide range based on our multiple measures including testing.