Some schools in Beijing switch to online teaching

BEIJING -- Some schools in Beijing have moved their classes online after students were found to be infected with COVID-19 in the latest resurgence.

As of 3 pm Wednesday, a total of 138 local infections had been logged in Beijing since April 22, involving eight districts, said Pang Xinghuo, deputy head of the Beijing municipal disease prevention and control center, adding that children from six schools and two kindergartens accounted for 31 percent of the infections.

Some primary and secondary schools, and kindergartens in the city's Xicheng, Dongcheng, Haidian and Chaoyang districts have started online teaching since Thursday. Students are required to undergo regular nucleic acid testing in their communities as part of stringent anti-epidemic measures.

Starting Wednesday, all primary and secondary schools, kindergartens and secondary vocational schools in Tongzhou district have suspended offline teaching, and students in primary and secondary schools have begun attending lessons from home through remote teaching platforms.

Three communities in Beijing were classified as high-risk areas for COVID-19 on Wednesday, and five others as medium-risk areas, bringing the total number of high-risk areas for COVID-19 to five and medium-risk areas to 16.