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Beijing Seals off More Residential Areas, Reports 12 Cases

A resident wearing a mask to help protect from the coronavirus walks past barricades and tents prepared for mass testing at a neighborhood in Beijing, China, Saturday, Jan. 29, 2022. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)
A resident wearing a mask to help protect from the coronavirus walks past barricades and tents prepared for mass testing at a neighborhood in Beijing, China, Saturday, Jan. 29, 2022. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)
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Beijing Seals off More Residential Areas, Reports 12 Cases

A resident wearing a mask to help protect from the coronavirus walks past barricades and tents prepared for mass testing at a neighborhood in Beijing, China, Saturday, Jan. 29, 2022. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)
A resident wearing a mask to help protect from the coronavirus walks past barricades and tents prepared for mass testing at a neighborhood in Beijing, China, Saturday, Jan. 29, 2022. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

Beijing officials said Sunday they sealed off several residential communities in the city's northern district after two cases of COVID-19 were found.

Residents in the Anzhenli neighborhood in Chaoyang district were sealed off on Saturday, and will not be allowed to leave their compound.

Beijing is on high alert as it prepares to host the Olympic Games opening on Friday, The Associated Press said.

While the cases are low compared to other countries in the region, China has double down on its “zero-tolerance” policy, which includes breaking the chain of transmission as soon as it is found.

The city is also setting up 19 points in the area to test residents every day until Friday, officials said at a briefing on the pandemic, according to state-backed Beijing News.

The Chinese capital reported a total of 12 cases of COVID-19 between 4 p.m. Saturday and 4 p.m. Sunday, said Pang Xinghuo, the vice head of the Beijing Center for Disease Prevention and Control. All those cases came from people who were already under some kind of pandemic control measures.

The city conducted multiple rounds of testing for millions of residents this past week in Fengtai district, where some residential compounds were locked down.

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Türkiye’s Pro-Kurdish party Says PKK May Announce Congress ‘Any Moment’

An Iraqi Kurdish woman waves a flag bearing the portrait of the founder of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) Abdullah Ocalan as people gather at Freedom Park to listen to an audio message by the jailed leader in Sulaimaniyah, in Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region on February 27, 2025. (AFP)
An Iraqi Kurdish woman waves a flag bearing the portrait of the founder of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) Abdullah Ocalan as people gather at Freedom Park to listen to an audio message by the jailed leader in Sulaimaniyah, in Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region on February 27, 2025. (AFP)
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Türkiye’s Pro-Kurdish party Says PKK May Announce Congress ‘Any Moment’

An Iraqi Kurdish woman waves a flag bearing the portrait of the founder of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) Abdullah Ocalan as people gather at Freedom Park to listen to an audio message by the jailed leader in Sulaimaniyah, in Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region on February 27, 2025. (AFP)
An Iraqi Kurdish woman waves a flag bearing the portrait of the founder of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) Abdullah Ocalan as people gather at Freedom Park to listen to an audio message by the jailed leader in Sulaimaniyah, in Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region on February 27, 2025. (AFP)

Türkiye’s pro-Kurdish DEM Party said on Friday it was only a matter of time before the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) announces it has convened its congress, a move seen as a key step in resolving the decades-long conflict.

The PKK declared a ceasefire in March following a historic call by its leader Abdullah Ocalan — who has been imprisoned since 1999 — for the group to lay down arms and to dissolve. This potentially paved the way for an end to 40 years of conflict between Kurdish fighters and the Turkish state, Reuters said.

"We are all awaiting this historic decision with great seriousness and importance," DEM Party spokesperson Aysegul Dogan told reporters after a meeting of the party’s executive board.

"It is only a matter of time before the PKK announces it has convened its congress. The announcement could come at any moment," Dogan said.

Dogan said the PKK had previously responded to Ocalan's call with a statement committing to fulfil its requirements, including a ceasefire declaration issued shortly after the appeal.

"This historic opportunity must be made permanent. Weapons must give way to dialogue," she said, adding that the DEM party hoped for mutual steps toward lasting peace, adding that political and legal groundwork would be essential.

Ocalan, who has been serving a life sentence on an island prison since 1999, issued a statement through his lawyers on Feb. 27 calling for a revival of peace efforts.

The PKK, designated a terrorist organization by Türkiye, the United States and the European Union, has waged an insurgency against the Turkish state since 1984.

More than 40,000 people have been killed in the conflict, which has seen intermittent peace efforts over the years, most notably a ceasefire between 2013 and 2015 that ultimately collapsed.