Beijing to increase nucleic acid testing for some groups

BEIJING -- Beijing will improve its regular nucleic acid testing mechanism and increase the testing frequency for employees in industries such as culture, tourism, marketplace and public transportation, local authorities said on Aug 10.

For people such as cold-chain employees, cooks, ticket inspectors, cleaners and security guards, nucleic acid testing will be done at least once a week, the municipal health commission told a press briefing.

Regular sampling testing shall also be carried out on employees in fields such as retail markets, catering companies, and food-delivery service.

For farm produce markets, Beijing requires new employees and those engaged in imported cold-chain food to hold a negative nucleic acid testing result within three days in order to continue their work.

No new infections have been reported in the city for five consecutive days as of Monday. The city has reported a total of nine confirmed and asymptomatic coronavirus infections in the latest resurgence of COVID-19 since July 28.

To curb the spread of COVID-19, Beijing has carried out 4.93 million nucleic acid tests on local people as of Monday.