Xinfadi wholesale market in Beijing Photo: Li Hao/GT

Beijing has conducted nucleic acid tests on 356,000 people since Saturday, said a government official, noting that the city will round up key groups of people for testing, such as medical workers, those who live around residential compounds where confirmed infection cases reside, and teachers and students who have already returned to schools.

The information was revealed by Zhang Qiang, an official with Beijing's COVID-19 prevention team at a Wednesday press conference, noting that Beijing will complete testing of a further 355,000 people linked to Xinfadi wholesale market on Wednesday. 

Zhang also said six groups of people should be rounded up for testing, including medical workers, public sector employees and teachers and students who have already returned to school.

Beijing is able to conduct nucleic tests for 400,000 people on a daily basis, said Zhang, noting that the city will further expand its nucleic acid testing capacity to meet the increasing demand. 

A total of 98 hospitals, disease control departments and third party institutions will work to ensure the orderly and effective testing for residents.

Beijing has reported 137 new infections over the past six days, and raised the city's COVID-19 emergency response to Level II on Tuesday.

Among those 137 patients, one is in critical condition, four are in severe condition and the rest are in mild condition. The youngest case is only 8 years old. 

Pang Xinghuo, deputy director of the municipal center for disease prevention and control, said at the conference that it is possible that new infections will emerge for some time to come. 

Global Times