File photo

The Chinese capital on Saturday reported five newly confirmed COVID-19 cases, including three from Spain, one from Italy and one from Thailand, the Beijing Municipal Health Commission said Sunday.

Beijing also reported one local suspected case and eight imported suspected cases, with three from Spain, and each one from the United States, Norway, Japan, Italy, and Britain, respectively, the commission said.

The municipal government on Sunday announced that all the personnel coming to Beijing from outside Chinese mainland will, starting from Monday, have to be quarantined for 14 days at designated places equipped with health-care services and pay all expenses themselves.

In special cases that are evaluated strictly, people from overseas will be allowed to stay at home for observation, Chen Bei, deputy secretary-general of the Beijing Municipal Government, said at a press conference Sunday.

Imported cases have been the major source of newly confirmed COVID-19 cases in Beijing, posing a risk to the city's epidemic prevention and control work, Chen said.

Beijing Capital International Airport has designated a special zone for all international flights, the airport said Sunday.

All passengers disembarking from these flights were required to take health check-ups, including temperature screening at checkpoints. Transit passengers will be escorted to their connecting flights, while non-transit passengers will be shuttled to a convention center from where they will be further shuttled to designated places for the 14-day quarantine.

As of Saturday, 415 confirmed cases had been reported in Beijing. Of the total, 353 have been discharged from hospital after recovery and eight have died. The city now has 37 suspected cases.