Beijing Launches Mass Covid Testing

Beijing launched mass Covid-19 testing in parts of the city on Friday, while Shanghai was testing all hospital staff, as the mainland battles the worst outbreak since March 2020.

The mainland reported a slight decline in new daily Covid-19 cases on Friday - 103 from 144 cases a day earlier.

Of these new cases, 94 were local transmissions: Heilongjiang reported 47 new cases, while Jilin province reported 19 new cases. Shanghai reported six new cases, while the capital reported three new cases.

Some districts in Beijing launched mass Covid-19 tests following several consecutive days of new cases in the capital, with long queues forming in certain parts of the city.

Shanghai began testing all hospital staff for the disease on Thursday after two such workers tested positive.

Tens of millions of people have been under some kind of lockdown in northern cities amid worries that undetected infections could spread quickly during the Lunar New Year holiday, which is just weeks away.

Hebei province reported 18 new locally transmitted cases. At the high speed railway station in its largest city Shijiazhuang, passengers were allowed to get off a train on Friday but none were seen getting on. Train staff said they saw none getting on a day earlier either.

Beijing's west train station, which normally sees vast numbers of passengers passing through in the run up to the Lunar New Year, was virtually empty on Friday morning.

The number of new asymptomatic cases, which the mainland does not classify as confirmed cases, rose to 119 from 113 cases a day earlier.

The official total number of confirmed Covid-19 cases on the mainland now stands at 88,804, while the death toll remained unchanged at 4,635. (Reuters)