Beijing schedules more tests for certain districts

Beijing has decided to conduct another three rounds of mass nucleic acid testing for people living or working in Chaoyang, Shunyi and Fangshan districts from Tuesday to Thursday in order to rapidly minimize the risk of infection, senior officials said on Monday.

The sub-districts and counties in the city which have reported COVID-19 cases in the past seven days should also conduct three rounds of testing during the same period, Li Ang, deputy director of the Beijing Health Commission, said at a news conference on Monday afternoon.

Since April 25, Beijing has conducted eight rounds of mass nucleic acid testing and 60 tubes have tested positive, according to Li.

As Beijing is still facing a severe control and prevention situation, the city will continue the strict measures to curb viral spread, Xu Hejian, municipal spokesperson of the municipal government, said on Monday.

Starting on Thursday, people will be asked to show negative results of nucleic acid tests taken within 48 hours before entering government institutions, departments, office buildings, supermarkets, hotels and restaurants in the capital, he said.

To meet testing needs for residents, the health commission announced starting Tuesday six districts including Dongcheng, Xicheng, Chaoyang and Haidian will provide testing services on odd-numbered days while remaining districts including Mentougou, Fangshan, Tongzhou and Shunyi will offer testing services on even-numbered days.

The 24-hour testing spots will continue services to meet the demand of special groups, he added.

Due to the ongoing outbreak, the city's civil affairs bureau made the announcement couples should bring nucleic acid test results from within 48 hours to register for marriage.

Couples often get married on May 20 and 21, as the pronunciation of "520" and "521" is homophonic for "I Love You" in Chinese. The bureau said couples should avoid those dates this year to reduce infection risk caused by crowds.