Young residents wearing masks cycle down a path on Monday, May 9, 2022, in Beijing. (Photo: AP)

Shunyi authorities will carry out mass testing and expanded measures after the sudden discovery of a cluster of 21 COVID-19 cases in the Beijing district.

Seventeen staff at the Beijing Rural Commercial Bank data center and four of their family members tested positive, Beijing officials said at a press briefing on COVID-19 prevention and control on Monday.

The epidemic in Beijing was still severe, and prevention and control was “tough and complex,” said Xu Hejian, publicity vice minister of Beijing municipality.

“The spread of the epidemic must be curbed in the shortest time and every effort should be devoted to dealing with the epidemic in the Shunyi district.”

Shunyi would switch to “home office mode or point-to-point closed-loop management,” he said. Public transport would also be reduced, he said.

So far 915 close contacts and 108 secondary contacts have been identified in Shunyi.

All have been placed under control and measures enacted for all those involved outside the district, said Zhang Yanlin, a spokesperson for Shunyi district government.

(Compiled by Meng Gaohan)