Beijing continues to battle mounting case count

Beijing is still facing its most complicated and severe epidemic control situation since 2020, with the number of infections found at community level continuing to rise with slight fluctuations, a senior official said on Wednesday.

"The epidemic control work in the capital is still at a critical stage," city spokesman Xu Hejian, said at a news conference on Wednesday.

Every district in Beijing should make their own plans for epidemic control measures according to their situation and make adjustments dynamically until the turning point occurs, he said.

"Beijing reported more than 1,000 infections for a single day on both Monday and Tuesday," Xu said. "Those cases have involved a wide range of subdistricts and villages."

Between midnight and 3 pm on Wednesday, Beijing reported 913 locally transmitted COVID-19 infections, with 640 of them asymptomatic carriers. Among the total infections, 765 were found in those under quarantine and the remaining 148 were detected at the community level.

On Tuesday, the city recorded 388 locally transmitted confirmed COVID-19 cases and 1,098 asymptomatic carriers in total.

Chaoyang, the hardest-hit district during the ongoing outbreak, reported 117 local cases and 424 asymptomatic carriers on Tuesday. Between midnight and 3 pm on Wednesday, Chaoyang recorded 352 infections, among which 71 were from the community level.

Yang Beibei, deputy head of Chaoyang district, said at the conference people in Chaoyang are encouraged not to leave their residential communities when not absolutely necessary.

Previously, residents in Chaoyang were encouraged not to leave the district when not necessary.

"The district government will make the utmost effort to ensure daily supplies for residents and accelerate the move to identify positive cases," she said.

Fengtai district, which reported 88 infections in Tuesday and 55 cases between midnight and 3pm Wednesday, has set up self-check nucleic acid test spots in some residential communities recently, according to local media reports on Wednesday.

People can download an app to scan the tubes themselves and take the samples and upload their address information. They will be able the check their test results via the app later.

At present, self-service for nucleic acid tests are mainly for families with students, seniors and people with critical health conditions.