Action taken to limit crisis

Railway stations have been equipped with 370 body temperature measurement devices, some of which can operate automatically to avoid congestion. Passengers with abnormal temperatures will be moved to a health and epidemic prevention department, he said.

The number of incoming passengers at the Beijing Capital International Airport dropped by 62.6 percent from Jan 24 to Sunday, compared with the same period last year, data from the airport showed. Besides temperature measurement, disinfection and ventilation procedures were also conducted more frequently.

Before the epidemic, passengers on the Beijing subway averaged about 12 million on average per workday. Now, that figure has fallen to less than 1.2 million, as more residents have chosen to stay at home to avoid infection. Subway tallies are expected to reach about 6 million as the millions of migrant workers return to Beijing this week, said Wang Xiaojun, operation director of Beijing Subway Ltd. He said subway stations would avoid crowds, by monitoring real-time load factors, running more temporary trains and limiting the number of passengers.

The Beijing government suggests that people returning to the city stay at home for two weeks in quarantine to observe their medical status. Any abnormalities should be reported. It also asks companies and institutions to monitor body temperatures of staff. Drug stores will also report customers with fever, according to the 18th meeting on epidemic control held by city officials on Saturday.

Virus-infected patients in critical condition should be dealt with individually, officials said, to decrease the number of fatalities.

Beijing also called for shopping malls and other business operators to focus on improving e-commerce. Officials said the supply of daily necessities should be guaranteed, without price gouging.