Due to a sudden outbreak of COVID-19 cases in Beijing, the city's education authority has decided to postpone the return of students to schools to avoid any risks of infection, a senior official said at a news conference on Saturday afternoon.

Students in the senior grade of middle school and living outside of controlled zones can go back to campus as scheduled on Monday. Students in other grades of middle school and those of primary and high schools grades, as well as kindergartens, should continue online classes, said Xu Hejian, the spokesperson of the city government, on Saturday.

The city will decide the date to let students go back to campus in the future depending on the development of the current infection cluster involving a bar that has lead to more than 100 confirmed cases since Thursday.