Indian Embassy in Beijing restricts R-Day celebrations to staff due to COVID-19 cases

The Indian Embassy in Beijing said the Republic Day ceremony at the mission's premises here on Wednesday will be restricted only to its officials in view of the prevailing COVID-19 situation in the Chinese capital.

“Due to the evolving COVID-19 pandemic situation in Beijing, it has been decided that the flag unfurling ceremony on India’s Republic Day will be held at Embassy premises on January 26, 2022 with participation of officials of Embassy only,'' a press release issued by the Embassy said.

The flag hoisting ceremony can be watched live on its Facebook page (@IndiainChina) from 0830 hrs local time (1100 IST), it said.

This is the third time the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the Republic Day functions in Beijing.

The function was cancelled in 2020 due to a lockdown announced by China after the coronavirus broke out in Wuhan, last year (2021) it was restricted to staff and their families in view of the prevailing COVID-19 infections.

This year Beijing is grappling with both Delta and Omicron variants for the past few days ahead of the February 4 Winter Olympics.

On January 23, Beijing's local government virtually sealed off Fengtai district which has over 2 million residents and ordered mass testing after one residential compound reported a number of cases.

All residents should not go out of the district and get together, Deputy Head of the Fengtai District Bo Lan told a media briefing here on Sunday.

On Monday, China’s National Health Commission reported 88 new cases in different parts of the country.

There were 2,616 patients still under treatment as of Monday, of whom nine were in severe condition, the Commission said on Tuesday.