The local authorities ordered the application of the tests on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday in another 11 districts of the municipality after running the tests in Chaoyang, where nearly 70 patients were detected since last Friday.
The check-up of the 3.5 million residents of the municipality will be repeated tomorrow and on Friday, with experts considering this decision “timely, decisive and necessary” in order to prevent the large-scale spread of the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2.
Aside from conducting the PCR tests, Beijing designated a central restricted zone with zero mobility and the closure of hospitals, supermarkets and businesses.
Other companies in the territory were instructed to opt for remote work, sports activities, trade fairs and cultural shows were suspended, and the population was warned not to travel or celebrate parties during the upcoming May 1st holidays.
The local government reiterated the stability in supplies of food and essential products in the face of the avalanche of consumers who buy in large quantities for fear of a potential confinement of the Chinese capital.
Many supermarkets were out of stock at times and others extended working hours due to the high demand for groceries, as epidemiologists warned that depending on the number of new infections detected, Beijing could tighten sanitary measures and does not rule out proceeding with isolation like Shanghai did.
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