Residents in Fengtai district, Beijing line up to take nucleic acid tests on January 23, 2022. Photo: cnsphoto

Several districts in Beijing have kicked off mass testing for key groups, with some residents saying they have to do the test twice with a 24-hour interval. This comes after the city has reported 46 locally transmitted COVID-19 cases since mid-January. The city's Fengtai District, where five out of nine new cases reported on Sunday were found, already completed testing all residents.

Fengtai set up 1,073 nucleic test points on Sunday and reported one new case on Monday. 

Meanwhile, several districts in the capital, including Chaoyang, Daxing and Fangshan kicked off mass testing for "key groups." The key groups include construction workers, people working in the cold-chain industry and delivery people.

Several residents in Chaoyang District told the Global Times that people in residential buildings with residents setting steps in areas where cases were reported are required to take nucleic tests twice with a 24 hour interval. 

The capital's government also asked people who purchased medicine treating fever, anti-infection, cough and sore throat in the past 14 days to take a test within 72 hours from Sunday. Those who fail to do so may have their health codes altered and it will affect their daily activities. 

A Beijing resident surnamed Chen said that she bought antidiarrheic medicine for her dog three days ago. On Monday, she woke up to a disabled health code and was asked to take a test. Her company also asked her to provide a negative result before returning to work. 

Global Times