Beijing News You Might Have Missed This Week, Apr 30
Beijing is a happening city! Don't miss a thing with our weekend roundup of the latest news.
All Covid Tests to Be Free of Charge From May 3: In order to ensure everyone gets a test, Beijing has decided to make all Covid tests free of charge from May 3, according to Beijing Daily. The decision is meant to "ensure the smooth and orderly implementation of normalized testing". The report also says the layout of testing outlets across the city will be "optimized" in order to ensure each district has enough testing locations.
School-related Covid Case Account for Major Portion of Flare Up: School-related Covid cases account for one third of Beijing’s total tally of cases since Apr 22, according to Beijing’s health authority. Tongzhou District has become the first district to suspend in person teaching as of Wednesday, after three students in the district were found to be infected, reports the Global Times.
It was also reported that a 28-year-old man has been placed under criminal investigation after illegal off-school training the individual organized resulted in five cases in Tongzhou.
Elsewhere, in Haidian District, where most of Beijing’s schools and colleges are located, training agencies inside and outside schools as of Tuesday stopped providing services, and a number of schools across Beijing have started requiring weekly tests from students and faculty.
Cainao Sends 5000 Tons of Daily Necessities to Beijing: Delivery service Cainao said it’s sent 5000 tons of daily necessities to it’s Beijing warehouse in Shunyi. The company plans to distribute the goods prior to the May 1 holiday, with priority to be given to residents in Covid risk areas.
Nighttime Lighting to Be Extended Over May Day Holiday: A number of scenic spots around the capital are going to be leaving the lights on later than usual throughout the May holiday. Chang’an Avenue, the Central Axis, Financial Street, the CBD area, and various sections of the Ring Roads will be among the places whose lights will remain on 30 minutes later from May 1-May 4.
Prior to this, lights were turned off at around 10pm each night, but under the holiday regulations, the lights will remain on until 10.30pm each night. Following the holiday, lighting times will move later. Instead of turning on at 7.19pm every night and turning off at 5.01am every morning, lights will instead be turned on at 7.25pm every night and off at 4.54am every morning.
Flowers in Bloom at National Botanical Garden: Flowers are in bloom at the newly inaugurated National Botanical Garden in southwest Beijing, reports China Daily. The garden, which is pretty much just the Beijing Botanical Garden renamed, was established to build upon the work of the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Botany in order to conserve the country’s biodiversity.
As of press time, the garden is open to the public for the holiday, but as with most public venues, it's best to get negative test results with a vaildity of 48 hours before going.
READ: Beijing News You Might Have Missed This Week, Apr 29
Images: Beijing Daily, Global Times, China Daily, zhangkaiyu (via Unsplash)
