Beijing, The Indonesia Post – Beijing will conduct three further mass nucleic acid tests in 12 districts from Monday (16/5) to Wednesday (18/5) to stem the latest spike in COVID-19 infections in the Chinese capital.
The twelve districts cover all major urban and suburban districts, namely Dongcheng, Xicheng, Chaoyang, Haidian, Fengtai, Shijingshan, Fangshan, Tongzhou, Shunyi, Changping, Daxing, and the Beijing Economic-Technological Development Area, Wang Xiao’e said, a senior official from the Beijing Municipal Health Commission.
The latest step follows three mass screenings for COVID-19 which took place from Friday (13/5) to Sunday (15/5) last week in the 12 districts.
Residents of the remaining five suburban districts, namely Mentougou, Pinggu, Huairou, Miyun, and Yanqing, still need to have routine nucleic acid tests.
During mass tests on Friday and Saturday (14/5), health authorities identified multiple infections in important industries and places, including the public transport and courier sectors as well as construction sites, Wang said.
The official said mass screening plays an important role in helping authorities implement control measures in a timely manner, detect potential risks and break the route of transmission of the virus.
Beijing reported 55 new locally transmitted COVID-19 infections between Saturday at 3 p.m. and Sunday at 3 p.m. local time, Pang Xinghuo, deputy head at the city’s center for disease prevention and control, told reporters.
A total of 45 cases were detected among people under closed management and 10 cases were identified in mass testing, Pang said. Hidden sources of transmission in communities remain, and routes of transmission of the virus have not been completely cut off, he added.
Beijing currently has 18 areas classified as high risk of COVID-19 and 26 areas classified as moderate risk. (ojn/bbs)
Comment