A staff member disinfects the waiting room every 4 hours at Beijing Railway Station in Beijing, capital of China, Jan. 12, 2021. [Photo by Li Xin/Xinhua]

BEIJING, Jan. 16 (Xinhua) -- Beijing has required inbound travelers to undergo health monitoring for seven additional days following 21 days of medical observation, authorities said Saturday.

The latest requirement was announced following the meeting of the city's COVID-19 prevention and control leadership group held on Friday.

The anti-epidemic management at the centralized quarantine venues will be further strengthened and nucleic acid tests targeting related personnel and surroundings will be conducted more frequently, according to the meeting.

Recently, there have been cases in Beijing and other cities across the country in which inbound travelers were confirmed as COVID-19 patients after 14 days of isolated observation, which led to a rebound in indigenous cases.

In response to the problem, Beijing earlier this month extended the COVID-19 observation period for inbound travelers to 21 days following sporadic locally transmitted cases.