Beijing conducts mass tests to prevent more COVID-19 infections
Beijing, Jan 22 (efe-epa).- Several districts of China’s capital, Beijing, will conduct coronavirus tests on all their residents in the coming days after detecting more than a dozen local cases this week.
The central districts of Dongcheng, which has a population of 790,000, and Xicheng, with 1.14 million inhabitants, will conduct the tests between Friday and Saturday, state-run news agency Xinhua reported.
On Friday, the municipal health authorities detected three cases in the Daxing district, where the capital’s new airport is located, taking the total number of confirmed cases since Sunday to 14.
At least the first two patients have contracted the SARS-CoV-2 mutation detected in the United Kingdom, according to the authorities.
As a result, people in that district have been banned from leaving the capital without prior authorization and a negative Covid-19 test while five residential complexes in the Tiangongyuan sub-district remain under lockdown.
Fears of the outbreak spreading throughout Beijing has led to the suspension of classes in primary schools while those in other educational centers must complete the semester online or close earlier for the Chinese New Year.
The National Health Commission said Friday that 103 new Covid-19 cases had been detected in the country on the previous day, of which 94 were locally transmitted in contrast to the 126 local infections recorded the day before.
It also reported the detection of 119 asymptomatic infections, 20 of them from overseas, although Beijing does not include them as confirmed cases unless they exhibit symptoms.
The total number of active cases in mainland China stands at 1,674, of which 80 are critical. EFE-EPA
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