Beijing steps up efforts to identify potential risks of COVID-19 spreading
By Zhu Jingruo, Wang Haonan,
People's Daily
Beijing is further expanding its
scope of nucleic acid testing for COVID-19 in the second wave of the virus to
enhance hazard screening. In addition, it is also taking multiple approaches to
ensure that all citizens consciously obey the epidemic prevention and control
measures.
The Chinese capital reported 17
new confirmed COVID-19 cases on June 26, a slight uptick after the number had
been kept stable for days.
The situation is still grave in
Beijing and efforts must not be slackened, said a spokesperson of the Beijing
municipal government. Epidemic control is an "advance-or-lose
ground", so no effort can be spared, the spokesperson added.
Focusing on key groups of people,
Beijing is doing everything to identify potential dangers. The cases newly
reported on June 26 were still mostly related to the Xinfadi wholesale
market where the second cluster of COVID-19 cases emerged. However, epidemiological
investigation showed that some infected patients had been to a variety of
places and contacted many people.. Beijing is now making every effort to
identify risks and continuously expanding the scope of nucleic acid testing for
COVID-19.
Dayanglu Market in Beijing's
Chaoyang district, the second largest wholesale market of the city, has large
foot traffic and frequent visits of non-local vehicles. At present, a COVID-19
testing station is established in the market, and out-of-town drivers can receive
their test results within 10 hours.
Wang Hongcun, an official with
Beijing Municipal Commerce Bureau introduced that the capital is currently
screening the personnel in the hairdressing and beauty industry, including
disinfecting the premises and testing relevant staff. As of the end of June 26,
10,765 entities in the industry had been screened and 26,286 nucleic acid
samples collected. A total of 12,350 test results were available, and all of
them were negative.
Beijing also issued a new
guideline to help citizens with epidemic prevention and control. At present,
potential risks of the virus spreading still exist in Beijing, so personal
protection of Beijing citizens is of vital importance.
The Beijing Center for Diseases
Prevention and Control recently released a new guideline for the public,
including 25 items divided in 6 major areas - wearing masks, social distancing,
hand hygiene, health monitoring, dietetic hygiene, and daily cleaning and
disinfection.
According to Wang Liping,
researcher with the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, good
hygienic habits can lower the possibility of getting infected from
contaminants. She reminded the public to wear masks and properly dispose the
packages when receiving express parcels. Besides, citizens should also wash
their hands with running water and soaps, or hand sanitizers, and avoid the
crowds when receiving the parcels at the gates of residential communities.
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