Beijing Strengthens Quarantine Measures: No Work Allowed Without Negative PCR Test Certificate Within 48 Hours

Ten Days Before the Party Congress Deciding Xi Jinping's Third Term, Quarantine Measures Strengthened
Hohhot Effectively Under Citywide Lockdown

Ten days before the opening of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, which will decide on the third term of Chinese President Xi Jinping, Beijing City has stepped up quarantine measures. Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Bang Je-il] Ten days before the opening of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (Party Congress), which will decide Xi Jinping's third term as China's president, Beijing has stepped up quarantine measures.

On the 6th, China's state-run news agency Xinhua reported that the Beijing Center for Disease Control requires all Beijing citizens returning to work after the National Day holiday (October 1?7) to carry a negative PCR test certificate issued within 48 hours. This means that without a negative PCR certificate, one cannot go to work.

According to the report, residents returning to Beijing after spending the holiday outside the city must undergo two PCR tests within three days. To return to Beijing, they must report to quarantine authorities and delay their return if they have any suspicious symptoms. Upon arrival in Beijing, they are prohibited from attending dinners, gatherings, or any crowded places for seven days.

Earlier, Beijing quarantine authorities urged people to refrain from traveling outside the city during the National Day holiday and strictly blocked outsiders from entering Beijing. Despite Beijing maintaining single-digit daily COVID-19 cases recently, such strict quarantine controls appear to be measures to prevent the import and spread of COVID-19 from outside areas ahead of the Party Congress opening on the 16th.

China's daily new infections, which had remained in single digits for a while, rose again to four digits with 1,188 cases recorded on the 5th. In Hohhot, Inner Mongolia, not far from Beijing, 446 cases were reported in one day on the 5th, totaling 1,218 infections since September 28.

On social media, posts have appeared stating that most areas of Hohhot have banned residents from going out, and all business and public facilities except pharmacies and emergency hospitals have been closed, effectively imposing a full city lockdown.