Chinese Vice Premier Sun Chunlan on Monday urged solid and meticulous COVID-19 prevention and control work in Beijing to contain the spread of the epidemic as soon as possible.

Sun made the remarks during an inspection tour of the city's COVID-19 prevention and control work. She visited sites hit by the latest wave of infections, including two bars in Chaoyang District.

Sun learned about local efforts in the epidemiological investigation and tracing, identifying individuals faced with potential infection and related restrictions, and handling the outbreak sites.

The vice premier also visited the city's headquarters for COVID-19 response, heard a report on coordinated epidemiological investigation efforts, and held a meeting on quickening the implementation of COVID-19 control measures.

Beijing is now experiencing a rebound COVID-19 outbreak. It reported 45 new locally transmitted cases from midnight Sunday to 3.00 p.m. on Monday, the municipal health commission told a press conference.

This brings the number of new infections to 2,059 since April 22, said Liu Xiaofeng, deputy head of the Beijing municipal disease prevention and control center, at the press conference.

Of the new cases, 228 were related to a bar in Beijing's Chaoyang District. They were reported from June 9 to 3 p.m. Monday, according to the commission, adding that the bar cluster infection is in the development stage, and the risk of virus spreading still exists.

Starting from Monday, officials said that Chaoyang will carry out districtwide nucleic acid testing for three consecutive days to eliminate the potential risk of further virus spread.

(With input from Xinhua)