Beijing to conduct 3 more rounds of mass COVID-19 testing

Residents wait for nucleic acid testing at Balizhuang subdistrict in Chaoyang District, Beijing, capital of China, May 9, 2022. (Xinhua/Li Xin)

BEIJING, May 12 (Xinhua) -- Beijing will conduct three additional rounds of mass nucleic acid testing in 12 districts from Friday to Sunday, as the Chinese capital races against time to contain the latest resurgence of COVID-19 infections.

The 12 districts include all the urban and major suburban districts, namely, Dongcheng, Xicheng, Chaoyang, Haidian, Fengtai, Shijingshan, Fangshan, Tongzhou, Shunyi, Changping, Daxing and Beijing Economic-Technological Development Area, Xu Hejian, a spokesperson for the Beijing municipal government, told a press briefing on Thursday.

Xu called on locals to reduce personnel flows to cut off the transmission chain of the virus, assuring that the city's routine operation and the supply of daily necessities will not be affected.

Beijing reported 36 new locally transmitted COVID-19 infections between 3 p.m. Wednesday and 3 p.m. Thursday, Pang Xinghuo, deputy head of the Beijing municipal disease prevention and control center, told reporters.

Thirty-two cases were detected among people under closed-off management and four were found in mass screening in communities, Pang said, adding that among the new infections, 32 are moderate or mild cases and four are asymptomatic carriers.

Beijing has reported 928 locally transmitted infections since April 22. Currently, it has 17 high-risk areas and 37 medium-risk areas for COVID-19. ■