Beijing implements new COVID-19 measures

Beijing announced on Saturday more measures, mainly concerning medical services to provide more convenience for the public, during the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak.

Starting on Saturday, residents in the city will no longer need to register their personal information for purchasing medicines for a fever, cough, sore throat or anti-infection both online or in drugstores, according to the municipality's market supervision authority.

People can also get healthcare and medical consultant service at an online platform relaunched recently by Beijing Medical Association which has arranged experts on eight specialties including respiratory, infectious diseases, geriatrics, pediatrics and psychology, according to the city's health commission on Saturday.

"The platform will run between 8 am and 10 pm and experts will answer the questions from the public during the time, which will help people get professional guidance and medical knowledge without going out," said the commission.

The platform, held by the Beijing Medical Association and guided by the government, was first launched on Feb 1, 2020. On April 28 this year, it was put into operation again due to the epidemic outbreak during the time. People can log onto the platform via Wechat.

The health commission also announced on Saturday the city will improve the service in makeshift hospitals to ensure that patients can be discharged safely, effectively and orderly.

The staff of makeshift hospitals will provide documents for recovered patients to ensure the latter can be accepted by their residential communities smoothly. The communities' health service agencies will be responsible for discharged patients' registration and provide health guidance afterwards.

On Saturday morning, Beijing's top epidemic control and prevention work group held a meeting hosted by the capital's Party chief Yin Li, saying that the city's epidemic control and prevention situation is still severe and complicated. All stakeholders including the individual should work more scientifically and effectively to curb the upward trend of the ongoing outbreak and avoid new epidemics.

Between midnight and 3pm on Saturday, Beijing reported 1,392 new infections, among whom 1,027 are asymptomatic carriers, according to the city government.

Of those infections, 1,228 were found in those under quarantine and 164 were detected at a community level.