Virus-hit Beijing Limits Travel, Closes Schools

Beijing on Tuesday urged its residents to not leave the city and closed schools again as authorities scramble to contain a "severe" new coronavirus outbreak in the city of 21 million people.

The coronavirus resurgence – believed to have started in the capital's sprawling Xinfadi wholesale food market – has prompted alarm as China had largely brought its outbreak under control through mass testing and severe lockdowns.

The country had eased many of its anti-coronavirus measures in recent months as the government all but declared victory against the disease that emerged in the central city of Wuhan late last year.

Fearing that progress could unravel, authorities locked down several residential areas and announced new restrictions on Tuesday.

The city government said residents should avoid "non-essential travel" out of the capital.

"Anyone leaving Beijing must have a negative reading on a nucleic acid test taken within seven days (prior to departure)," Chen Bei, deputy secretary general of Beijing municipal government, said at a press conference.

Residents of "medium- or high-risk" areas of infection are completely banned from leaving.

The local education commission announced that all schools, which had mostly reopened, would close again and return to online classes. Universities were told to suspend the return of students.

"The epidemic situation in the capital is extremely severe," Beijing city spokesman Xu Hejian warned at a press conference.

Another 27 cases were reported on Tuesday.

They took the number of confirmed infections in Beijing over the past five days to 106, as authorities locked down almost 30 communities in the city and tested tens of thousands of people.

The World Health Organisation had already expressed concern about the cluster, pointing to Beijing's size and connectivity. (AFP)

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