Beijing neighborhoods move to step up precautions

Communities and neighborhood committees in Beijing are preparing to upgrade prevention and quarantine measures after the capital released a new quarantine rule on Friday.

People who return to Beijing from other places must isolate themselves for 14 days at home or designated sites and report to their neighborhood committees before arriving, according to a notice issued by the city's epidemic prevention authorities late Friday. The regulation took effect immediately and violators will face legal liability.

In Chaoyang district, home to the city's central business district, circulars and notices have been put up in front of the gates at residential buildings to inform residents of the latest rule.

A recently diagnosed patient in Beijing who didn't put himself under quarantine at home for 14 days caused dozens of co-workers to be quarantined as close contacts, Pang Xinghuo, deputy director of the Beijing Center for Disease Control and Prevention, told a daily news briefing on combating the virus in Beijing on Sunday.

Previously, those required to spend 14 days' quarantine at home or in designated facilities were mainly those who had traveled to Hubei province or who had been in close contact with confirmed patients.

Body temperature checks and registration requirements have been deployed at the gate of each community.

According to a community worker surnamed Zhang at the Olympic Village neighborhood in Chaoyang district, those under home quarantine usually have six community workers taking care of their needs and checking on their health conditions regularly.

People could choose self-isolation at designated facilities if conditions at home were not suitable, she said.

"For our neighborhood committee, such people are sent to Xiedao Group Resort near Capital International Airport," Zhang said. "Once they begin showing symptoms, they will be transferred to designated hospitals for timely treatment."

The capital's Haidian district, home to a cluster of universities, has been using a three-star hotel at the foot of Fenghuangling Mountain in the northwest of the district to quarantine district residents since Jan 29.

Wang Hongbo, director of Haidian Hospital Management Center, which oversees the operation of designated quarantine sites in the district, said the hotel can accept 110 people for isolation, and all hotel service staff members wear the same masks and protective suits as medical workers when providing daily necessities to those in quarantine.

Some express hotels and neighborhood community offices had also been prepared as isolation facilities, Haidian district authorities said.

Larger quarantine places－capable of accommodating 2,429 people under 24-hour observation in 34 spots－had been prepared in Daxing district, which serves as Beijing's gateway to provinces to the south, including Hubei province, the epicenter of the outbreak, Ai Li, a senior Daxing district government official, said last week.

Beijing hospitals have also strengthened prevention and control measures. From Sunday, patients have been required to make an online appointment to see a doctor in third-class and second-class hospitals in the capital, unless they need emergency treatment.

The hospitals should implement complete online appointments no later than Feb 25, Beijing Municipal Health Commission spokesman Gao Xiaojun told Sunday's briefing.