New coronavirus infections in Beijing decreased over the weekend as health authorities continue to implement widespread COVID-19 testing and intensify movement control measures.
China's Daily Cases Decline
China on Monday reported 18 new confirmed COVID-19 cases and 9 of the new patients were from Beijing, where a new outbreak of clustered cases emerged over the past few weeks.
The cases on Monday marked a decline in Beijing's new infections. The local government has been hard at work in preventing further infections by implementing a soft lockdown after massive lockdowns were ordered during the first wave earlier this year.
As for asymptomatic cases, China logged a total of seven. Unlike other nations, China does not count asymptomatic patients as confirmed cases.
Nucleic Acid Tests Boosted
Aside from rolling out movement control orders, Beijing also boosted nucleic acid testing capacity as part of government efforts to bring down new cases.
When the new outbreak emerged, around 100,000 people were tested daily for potential COVID-19 infection. Since the boosting, up to 230,000 people were tested on a daily basis.
The widespread testing was implemented as part of China's learnings from the first wave of infections that pushed the government to impose a devastating lockdown on Wuhan, the origin city.
Since June 11, over 200 people have been infected in the Chinese capital of Beijing. To further protect the citizens, a total of 124 institutions have been designated for treating infected patients.
Cases Expected to Drop Further
Disease control expert at the National Health Commission Wu Hao said Sunday evening that the new coronavirus infections in the capital are expected to make a "cliff-like drop" if the health authority continues to "control the source, and cut the chain of transmission."
Wu further noted that despite fears of a total lockdown, the capital will most likely not experience a "flood-like" lockdown since health authorities are now more aware of how the handle outbreaks as opposed to the case in Wuhan in January.
So far, only four areas in Beijing have been tagged as high-risk." There are 37 other neighborhoods recognized as medium-risk areas and in these locations, residents are still allowed to enter and exit.
Medium-risk sites in Beijing, though, require temperature checks and registration for everyone leaving their apartments. As for high-risk neighborhoods, an entire compound is locked down even if only one confirmed COVID-19 patient is found in the area.
Makeshift Bio Lab Completed
Beijing accomplished a lot of things in its coronavirus battle over the weekend as the city finished a makeshift bio lab that will be used for adopting batch testing amid an increase in testing demand since the new outbreak started.
The said lab was constructed at the Peking Union Medical College Hospital and features eight sampling rooms. Customized designs for the Fangcang cabin for testing were created for better use.
As of Monday, China logged a total of 83,396 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 4,364 deaths from the fast-spreading disease. As for Beijing's new outbreak a total of 236 people have been infected so far.
