Beijing, Jan 2 (IANS): Beijing added another medium-risk Covid-19 area, which increased the Chinese capital city's total such allotted areas to six, a local health official said.

Nancai Village in Shunyi district was upgraded to a medium-risk region on Friday, Xinhua news agency the official Pang Xinghuoas saying at a press briefing.

Shunyi district, where most of the latest locally transmitted cases were reported, had traced 1,750 close contacts by midday Friday.

All of them went into quarantine at designated places, Zhi Xianwei, executive deputy head of the district government, told reporters.

By 3 p.m. Friday, authorities sampled 109,000 people for nucleic acid tests, and 101,700 people tested negative.

The results of the rest are yet to come, said the district official.

Zhi said the district has temporarily cancelled commercial activities designed for large groups of people, banned group meals and year-end parties, and shut down places like theatres and swimming pools in the district.

To beef up pandemic prevention and control, new employees in Beijing need proof of negative results of nucleic acid tests taken within three days prior to their first day of work starting Friday, Xu Hejian, a spokesperson for the municipal government, said at the press conference.

As of Saturday, China's overall caseload and death toll have surged to 87,093 and 4,634, respectively.