Over 2 million Beijing residents tested so far amid new COVID-19 infections

Residents undergo nucleic acid tests for COVID-19 at a stadium in Beijing’s Xicheng district on June 15. Photo by Zou Hong/China Daily/Asia News Network

BEIJING — Since June 13, Beijing has given more than two million residents nucleic acid tests for the COVID-19 and people who had no contact with the Xinfadi agricultural wholesale market from May 30 to June 12 have a very low risk of infection of the COVID-19, so there is no need to rush out for nucleic acid tests, officials said at a news conference from the Beijing municipal government on Saturday.

Beijing reported 22 new confirmed COVID-19 cases, four suspected cases and two asymptomatic infections on Friday, according to Xu Hejian, spokesman for the municipal government. Since June 11, the city has reported 205 confirmed cases of locally transmitted COVID-19.

“Among the 22 new cases the youngest patient is 1 year old and the oldest is 56, with 11 males and 11 females,” said Liu Xiaofeng, deputy director of the Beijing Center for Disease Control and Prevention. “According to the recent screening result and epidemiological investigation, all the cases were related to the Xinfadi agricultural wholesale market.”

“To prevent the spread of the virus, the government conducted coronavirus tests across the city,” said Zhang Qiang, a member of the city’s epidemic-control office. “The testing team of 7,472 medical workers has been dispatched to 474 sampling stations.”

“Currently, the city has the ability to sample an average of 500,000 people per day from the previous 8,000,” he added. “As of 6 am on Saturday, a total of 2,297,000 people have finished sampling.”