Beijing to expand nucleic acid testing to more areas

BEIJING -- Beijing will conduct three rounds of nucleic acid testing in 11 areas from Tuesday to Saturday in efforts to curb the risk of COVID-19, local authorities said at a press conference Monday.

The testing will cover people in the districts of Xicheng, Dongcheng, Haidian, Fengtai, Shijingshan, Fangshan, Tongzhou, Shunyi, Changping, Daxing and Beijing Economic-Technological Development Area, said Xu Hejian, spokesperson of the municipal government of Beijing.

The city has already started a district-wide nucleic acid testing in Chaoyang District on Monday after new local cases had been reported. Two more rounds of testing are scheduled on Wednesday and Friday in the district.

As of 8 p.m. Monday, a total of more than 3.69 million people in the district had been sampled, with 526,457 testing negative. The rest of the results are not available yet.

Beijing has suspended events with large gatherings, such as theatrical performances, sports games as well as commodities exhibitions and sales promotions, and halted offline courses and activities of after-school training institutions, as well as home renovation and construction projects, Xu said.

The supply of daily necessities in Beijing are now sufficient and stable, he added.

Beijing reported 29 locally transmitted confirmed COVID-19 cases between 4 p.m. Sunday and 4 p.m. Monday. A total of 70 local infections have been logged since Friday, said Pang Xinghuo, deputy head of the Beijing municipal disease prevention and control center.